Hi! I'm Pegah, a researcher studying how automation and AI are changing work and labor. Starting fall 2026, I will be a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan School of Information, working with Sarah Fox and the Tech Solidarity Lab. I graduated with my PhD in Information Science from Cornell University, where I was very lucky to be co-advised by Karen Levy and Cristobal Cheyre.
I use qualitative methods like interviews and observations to better understand how labor-offsetting systems are changing human relationships in the workplace, especially for frontline workers. My research shows how automation in frontline workplaces like brick-and-mortar retail can make worker-customer relationships more adversarial and intensify managerial control. I did a very fun Q&A with the Siegel Family Endowment that explains much of this line of research.
My work has appeared in outlets like The Nation, The American Prospect, and The Hill. I regularly advise worker advocacy groups and lawmakers on issues related to retail tech, workplace privacy, and automation.
My research is supported by the NSF, the Siegel Family Endowment, and the MacArthur Foundation through the Cornell Artificial Intelligence, Policy, and Practice Initiative.
You can connect with me at pegah [at] infosci.cornell.edu, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), or Bluesky.
Highlights
- August 2026: I graduated! I successfully defended my dissertation, "Please Wait, Help Is on the Way: Automation and Pseudo-Automation in Frontline Work." Many thanks to my supportive committee: Karen Levy, Cristobal Cheyre, Gili Vidan, and Ben Shestakofsky.
- July 2026: I wrote an opinion essay with Marissa Gerchick and Andrea Wen-Yi Wang about what AI in the World Cup can tell us about AI and bossware in other workplaces.
- July 2026: I attended the Brown University CNTR AI Policy Summer School, meeting with a number of regulators, legislators, advocates, and policy-oriented academics in Providence, RI and on Capitol Hill in DC. It was great to talk with Congressional staffers about AI and labor policy!
- May 2026: I spoke to the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland about my research on pseudo-automation and work intensification in retail. I also got to pay homage to Jim Henson and Kermit, two UMD legends.
- February 2026: I presented joint work with Cristobal Cheyre and Alessandro Acquisti on regulating behavioral advertising at the Digital Competition Conference at Georgetown University.
Publications
"Eyes, Locks, Patterns, Tiers: How Intelligent Crime-Control Technology Amplifies Demands for Frontline Retail Workers."
Moradi, Pegah, Karen Levy, and Cristobal Cheyre. Forthcoming in the Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
“Pseudo-Automation: How Labor-Offsetting Technologies Reconfigure Roles and Relationships in Frontline Retail Work.”
Moradi, Pegah, Karen Levy, and Cristobal Cheyre. Proceedings of the ACM: Human Computer Interaction (CSCW), 2025.
"Goffmanian 'Cooling' in Technology-Mediated Frontline Enforcement Work”
Moradi, Pegah, Karen Levy, and Elizabeth Chiarello. Social Science Computer Review, 2025.
“Economic Rationales for Regulating Behavioral Ads.”
Moradi, Pegah, Cristobal Cheyre, and Alessandro Acquisti. Forthcoming in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, 2025.
"Million Eyes on the 'Robot Umps': The Case for Studying Sports in HRI Through Baseball”
Kamino, Waki, Andrea W Wen-Yi, ..., Pegah Moradi, ..., Karen Levy, and Malte Jung. Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)., 2025.
"A Fountain Pen Come to Life": The Anxieties of the Autopen.
Moradi, Pegah, and Karen Levy. International Journal of Communication, vol. 18: Forum 1-20. 2024.
The Future of Work in the Age of AI: Displacement or Risk-Shifting?
Moradi, Pegah, and Karen Levy. Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI. 2020.