AI × identity
AI literacy as identity work
Why learning more about AI can heighten workers’ identity threat — and what makes the difference between threat and adaptation.
I’m a PhD candidate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, advised by Prof. Winton Au, finishing in 2027.
My dissertation asks a counter-intuitive question: can knowing more about AI make workers feel worse? I argue that AI literacy is a form of identity work. Technical training alone can sharpen the sense that one’s skills are being devalued; identity-centric upskilling can turn that threat into adaptation. I am testing this with a new measure, the Identity-Centric AI Literacy Scale (I-CAILS), and a randomized controlled trial.
Before and during the PhD I spent about three years building and validating psychometric instruments for banks and government, and redesigning a Hong Kong Government disciplined service’s selection system. In 2026 I was a Summer Associate at Bain & Company, working on digital and AI operating models and private equity due diligence. That mix — measurement science, field data and how decisions get made inside firms — shapes the questions I ask.
- Based inHong Kong
- LanguagesEnglish · Mandarin · Cantonese
- MethodsSEM · factor analysis · scale validation · RCTs