Mckie to Receive the 2025 Doctoral Dissertation Award
The Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is delighted to announce that Indra Ayu Mckie, PhD, is the 2025 recipient of the ASIS&T Doctoral Dissertation Award for their dissertation titled, "Co-experiencing conversational AI: An ethnographic exploration of embodied interactions with voice assistants."
The award’s purpose is to recognize outstanding recent doctoral candidates whose research contributes significantly to an understanding of some aspect of information science. The award is intended to encourage participation of new PhDs in the activities of a professional association by providing a forum for the presentation of their research and assisting them with some travel support.
Mckie, whose doctoral work was conducted at the University of Technology Sydney, was selected as the winner from among a pool of outstanding candidates who were judged based on these criteria: Importance of the topic to theory development and/or practical applications in information science; soundness of methodology; organization and clarity of the presentation; and quality of data (when applicable).
One juror wrote, “Mckie's examination of the relationships that users have with their virtual assistants through the lens of embodied interaction theory masterfully integrates a variety of qualitative approaches to provide insight into ‘the interconnected spatial, social, and technological factors’ at play in users' perceptions of and interactions with these devices. ... Mckie's research is forward-thinking, examining the larger implications of the everyday use of voice assistants in our homes. Using a qualitative approach that generates rich, insightful data, this work sheds light on emerging complexities in human-computer interaction and personal uses of artificial intelligence that impact personal information behavior and society at large.”
Upon learning of her selection as the award winner, Mckie said, “"I’m extremely happy to have been awarded the prestigious ASIS&T Thesis Award. As a woman of colour in STEM, it’s truly an accomplishment to be celebrated and recognised by this esteemed academic body. I look forward to publishing my thesis as a book, in which I am in the midst of writing. I would love to dedicate this award to my mum, Putu Ayu Musantariyati Mckie, by whose hospital bedside I spent countless hours finishing my thesis. She has given me everything I have in life and continues to bless me and my future even though she is no longer with us. Thank you."”.
Mckie will receive the award during the 2025 meeting of ASIS&T which will be held 14-18 November 2025 in Crystal City, VA.
About ASIS&T
ASIS&T is the pre-eminent professional association for thousands of researchers, developers, practitioners, students, and professors in the field of information science and technology from 50 countries around the world. For more than 80 years, ASIS&T has been leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information.