Sarah Elizabeth Gillespie

Photo of a white woman with brown hair standing in front of the Boston harbor

About Me

I am a third-year PhD student in Computer Science working with Dr. Christo Wilson at Northeastern University's Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute.

Before Northeastern, I attended Smith College for undergrad, earning my BA in Quantitative Economics and Statistical and Data Science in 2022. I then worked at Sartorius Stedim Biotech in a Biosafety Level 2 laboratory as a metrology/quality engineer, including involvement in routine FDA audits.

My research focuses on consumer protection and AI ethics through a multidisciplinary approach. Depending on the project, this could range from qualitative coding to intercepting app traffic to analyzing network patterns.

I am an organizer of the Khoury Women's PhD Group.


News

January-May 2026: I am currently a TA for CS4700 Network Fundamentals.

March 2026: "It's not a representation of me": Examining Accent Bias and Digital Exclusion in Synthetic AI Voice Services paper was referenced in the Wired article titled "Summon This AI Agent by Speaking Its Wake Word Mid-Phone Call".

June 2025: Our paper "It's not a representation of me": Examining Accent Bias and Digital Exclusion in Synthetic AI Voice Services was accepted at ACM FAccT 2025.

April 2025: Our paper Promises, Promises: Understanding Claims Made in Social Robot Consumer Experiences was accepted at CHI 2025.

May 2024: Presented Investigating the Datafication of Your Car at IEEE Security 8th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection (ConPro '24).

September 2023: Began my PhD in Computer Science at Northeastern University with the Khoury Distinguished Fellowship.

Past Conference Attendance: PETS 2025, ACM CHI 2025, CS Law 2024, IEEE S&P 2024


Publications

"It's not a representation of me": Examining Accent Bias and Digital Exclusion in Synthetic AI Voice Services was presented at ACM FAccT 2025.

Promises, Promises: Understanding Claims Made in Social Robot Consumer Experiences was presented at CHI 2025.

Investigating the Datafication of Your Car was presented at IEEE Security 8th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection (ConPro '24.)


Research Interests