CSC researchers awarded seed funding

Researchers have been awarded seed funding by the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics to investigate mindfulness apps' impact on kindness and compassion.

We are thrilled to announce that two esteemed researchers from the ContemplativeStudies Centre have been awarded seed funding by the 2023 CAIDE (Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics) Seed Funding program. Associate Professor Ana Dragojlovic, an expert in feminist health humanities, and Dr Julieta Galante, a renowned researcher in meditation and mental health promotion, will spearhead a cross-disciplinary investigation into the possibilities and limitations of cultivating kindness and compassion (K&C) through mindfulness apps.

The project aims to understand how K&C are constructed and perceived by app users, while also examining the marketing strategies employed by these apps. Through interviews with app users and textual analysis, the research team will explore the alignment between marketing claims and user experiences.

This project not only addresses the scientific and cultural challenges posed by automated K&C training tools but also promotes digital ethics and fosters collaboration between medicine and the humanities. The preliminary data gathered will contribute to a longitudinal study on the understanding and experience of K&C in different degrees of automated meditation courses. This exciting research endeavour has the potential to shed light on the limitations of automation and emphasise the unique contributions of human experts in the realm of digital wellness.