Nataliia Laba (she/her) studies visual generative AI, with a strong focus on society↔technology relationships in the context of technology adoption and use. Her work crtically engages with sociotechnical imaginaries of visual generative AI and AI-generated images approached as infrastructures. 

Nataliia is Assistant Professor in Digital and Multimodal Communication / Humane AI in the Communication and Information Studies Program at University of Groningen. She has also been serving as Early Student and Early Career Representative for Visual Communication Studies Division at the International Communication Association since 2024.

Nataliia's research asks critical questions about digital data, model architecture, platforms, users, and interests of those who benefit from tech adoption, to better understand, critique, and socio-historically contextualize the current developments brought about by generative AI.

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Current projects

Nataliia's broad research interest lies in novel digital technologies and how they both shape and are shaped by various professional and personal communicative practices. She is interested in supervising Master and PhD students curious about the interconnections between content producers, audiences, commercial entities, and socio-technical systems.

Nataliia works at the intersections of critical data studies, discourse studies, and visual communication. Her cross-disciplinary research approach is strongly informed by her ten-year tertiary teaching experience across programs such as

• Communication and Information Studies (University of Groningen, 2024-),
• Digital and Social Media (University of Technology Sydney, 2022-2024),
• Digital Cultures (University of Sydney, 2022-2024),
• Media (University of New South Wales, 2019-2024),
• Business Communication (Australian Catholic University, 2021-2023; Open University of Hong Kong 2016-2018), and more.