Welcome, and thank you for visiting. I’m Mervenur Çetin, a Ph.D. Candidate in Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. I study how people talk about and make sense of artificial intelligence (AI) in their everyday lives, and I’m glad you’re here to learn more about this work.
About Me
I am Merve Çetin, a Ph.D. Candidate in Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. My research sits at the intersection of digital communication, discourse, identity, culture, design and artificial intelligence (AI). I study how people talk about and make sense of AI, especially how ideas about expertise, responsibility, trust, learning, and participation emerge through discourse and everyday interaction. Here, you can learn more about my dissertation, current research, teaching, publications and presentations, and opportunities to participate in my research.
In my work, I approach Communication as a discipline that asks how meaning is created, circulated, and contested across different media, institutions, and communities. This perspective helps me examine how language, interaction, and design choices shape what AI is understood to be, who it is seen to be for, and whose experiences are taken seriously when new technologies are imagined and built.
Much of my research uses discourse-analytic methods, which means I pay close attention to how words, narratives, and conversations do practical work in the world. I am interested in how people describe AI systems, how they explain what those systems can or cannot do, and how they negotiate questions of accountability, expertise, and care. This often involves looking at everyday talk, policy documents, technical and design materials, and public debates side by side.
Across these projects, I am especially drawn to the moments where communication, technology, and design intersect: where an interface or a prompt invites particular forms of participation, where learning about AI is framed as possible or impossible, and where people’s identities and lived experiences meet technical systems that may or may not recognize them.
Research Interests
- Digital communication
- Discourse analysis
- Identity
- Culture
- Artificial Intelligence
- Design
- Gender and technology
- Participation and learning
Current Project
My dissertation, “Talking AI into Being: Gender, Participation and Learning of Women”, examines how women encounter, talk about, and learn with and about AI in their everyday lives. I am interested in how their experiences, questions, and forms of expertise reveal both the possibilities and the limitations of current AI imaginaries and designs.
Get in Touch
If you are interested in collaboration, have questions about my work, or would like to learn more about opportunities to participate in my research, I would be happy to hear from you. Please visit my contact page to get in touch.
Mervenur Çetin 