AI and Our Intimate Self: Reading Chinese Experiences in a Cross-Cultural Discourse

January 29, 2026

AI and Our Intimate Self: Reading Chinese Experiences in a Cross-Cultural Discourse

A human hand and robot hand reaching out to each other

Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming our workplace, the access and use of service facilities, and the delivery of education in school. More recently, AI has also slowly entered our most private spheres, affecting interpersonal relations, guiding emotions, and framing our spiritual life.

This event will explore the impact of AI on our intimate self, addressing questions and case studies from health care to religious experiences, discussing points of advantage as well as concerns. While the conversation will have a special focus on the Chinese world and Asian culture, speakers will also confront general questions that are relevant to a cross-cultural discourse.

This event is co-sponsored by the Georgetown University Representative Office in Rome, La Civiltà Cattolica, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the China Forum for Civilizational Dialogue.

Participants

Magali Goirand

Magali Goirand is an early career researcher in the Human Factors and Resilience stream, a team of health services researchers at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation. Her Ph.D. research focused on the implementation of ethics in medical AI using critical systems thinking. Her current research focuses on improving emergency department experience for underserved populations, including First Nations people of Australia, and AI-enabled clinical decision support. Her publications include Implementing Ethics in Healthcare AI-based Applications: A Scoping Review (2021) and A Systems Approach to Implementing Ethics in a COVID-19 AI Application: A Qualitative Study (2023).

S. M. Bhagya P. Samarakoon

S. M. Bhagya P. Samarakoon is a research fellow with the Engineering Product Development Pillar at SUTD, Singapore. She received her Ph.D. in engineering product development pillar from the Singapore University of Technology and Design in 2022. Her research interests span reconfigurable robotics, cleaning robotics, human–robot interaction, and service robotics. In 2025, she received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Social Robotics. She has received international recognitions, including several IDA International Design Awards (2022) and the Nanjing City Prize at IEEE RO-MAN (2018). She currently serves as the chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering, Singapore Section.

Debora Tonelli

Debora Tonelli is the Georgetown University representative in Rome and permanent researcher at the Center for Religious Studies (Centro per le Scienze Religiose) at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Trento. She also serves as a lecturer at Gregorian University and Pontifical Atheneum S. Anselmo and a research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on the biblical legacy in modern political thought, the dynamics between religion and violence, and interfaith dialogue. Together with Gerard Mannion, she developed a project on religion and violence and organized the layout of the publication co-edited by both of them.

Stefania Travagnin

Stefania Travagnin is reader in Chinese Buddhism and chair of the Centre of Buddhist Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Her research is grounded in extensive fieldwork among Buddhist communities in China and Taiwan, with a particular focus on female communities and educational practices. In recent years, she has examined the global expansion of the Taiwanese Buddhist charity Tzu Chi Foundation, especially in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Travagnin has edited or co-edited several volumes, including Religion and Media in China (2016) and the three-volume series Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions (2019–2020).

Bella Pei Wang

Bella Pei Wang is assistant professor at the School of Chinese, the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include comparative philosophy, psychoanalysis, the philosophy of family, Confucian feminism, and how traditional Confucian virtues can be morally justified in modern China. Her work has been published in journals such as Philosophy & Social Criticism, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, Philosophy East and West, China Review, Society, and Jung Journal, among others. She has recently completed a book manuscript entitled Confucianism as a Way of Life and is currently writing a new monograph titled Artificial Dawn: Confucian Reflections on Our Robotic Future.