London, United KingdomAI Researcher / Writer / Speaker

Amara Okafor

Researcher & Writer, Human-Centred AI

I study how people and AI systems make decisions together — and write about it for everyone, not just other researchers.

Portrait of Amara Okafor
Fig. 01Amara Okafor
Papers
24
Citations
3.1k
Readers
40k

01 — About

I'm a research scientist working on human–AI collaboration, fairness and trust. My work combines field studies with machine learning to understand when people should rely on algorithms and when they shouldn't. I also write a monthly column on technology and society, and advise non-profits on responsible AI adoption.

Photo of Amara Okafor

02 — Experience

  1. 2022

    Sep 2022 – Present

    • Lead a study of AI-assisted decisions across 12 public hospitals
    • Built evaluation methods for fairness in large language model outputs
    • Advise policy teams on algorithmic transparency requirements
  2. 2019

    Oct 2019 – Aug 2022

03 — Selected Work

  1. 01

    Second Opinion

    A field study of how clinicians use AI risk scores, and when explanations actually help.

    • Field research
    • Python
    • Mixed methods
    • Followed 380 clinical decisions over a year
    • Findings adopted into NHS guidance drafts
  2. An open toolkit that rewrites model explanations for non-expert audiences.

    • NLP
    • Evaluation
    • Open source
    • Doubled comprehension scores in user tests
    • Used by three civic tech organisations

04 — Research

Cover image for “When to Trust the Machine: Calibrated Reliance in Clinical AI”

Conference on Human Factors in Computing

When to Trust the Machine: Calibrated Reliance in Clinical AI

A year-long field study showing how uncertainty displays change clinicians' reliance on AI risk scores.

380clinical decisions studied
  • Human–AI interaction
  • Healthcare
  • Trust
Cover image for “Explanations for Everyone: Evaluating Plain-Language AI”

Journal of Responsible Technology

Explanations for Everyone: Evaluating Plain-Language AI

Measuring whether simplified explanations help people outside the field understand automated decisions.

2×better comprehension
  • Explainability
  • NLP
  • Evaluation

05 — Approach

  1. Start with people

    Sit with the people affected before touching the data.

  2. Ask a sharp question

    A narrow, answerable question beats a vague, important-sounding one.

  3. Test in the real world

    Lab results are a hypothesis. Field studies are the answer.

  4. Write for everyone

    If the findings can't be explained simply, the work isn't finished.

06 — Skills

Research

  • Field studies
  • Experiment design
  • Qualitative analysis
  • Statistics

Machine learning

  • Python
  • PyTorch
  • Fairness metrics
  • LLM evaluation

Communication

  • Science writing
  • Public speaking
  • Policy briefs

07 — Education

  1. 2019

    PhD in Human–Computer Interaction

    University College London

  2. 2014

    B.Sc. in Computer Science

    University of Lagos

Education photo of Amara Okafor

09 — Videos

Featured

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  1. 02

    Another example

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10 — Contact

Let’s talk

amara@example.com

Location
London, United Kingdom