University of Michigan School of Information
A headshot of Pegah Moradi

Pegah Moradi

Research Fellow, School of Information Email: [email protected] Phone: 734/764-5876
Office: School of Information/Leinweber Comp Sci & Info Bd Faculty Role: Faculty Personal website CV

Research Areas

Biography

Pegah Moradi, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan School of Information and the Tech Solidarity Lab, advised by Sarah Fox. Pegah graduated with her PhD in Information Science from Cornell University, co-advised by Karen Levy and Cristobal Cheyre.

Pegah uses qualitative methods to better understand how AI and automation change the future of work, with a focus on how AI mediates human relationships in the workplace. Her dissertation examines how technologies intended to automate away labor instead reconfigure and redistribute it between frontline workers and the people they serve.

Pegah’s research has appeared in academic venues such as the ILR Review, the International Journal of Communication, ACM CSCW, among others. Beyond academia, Pegah regularly advises worker advocacy groups and Congressional offices on issues related to workplace privacy and AI automation. Her research expertise has appeared in media outlets like The Nation, The American Prospect, and The Hill.

Dissertation title

Please Wait, Help Is on the Way: Automation and Pseudo-Automation in Frontline Work

Areas of interest

AI and labor; privacy; future of work

Education

B.A., Cornell University, 2019
M.S., Cornell University, 2023
Ph.D., Cornell University, 2026

Selected publications

"Eyes, Locks, Patterns, Tiers: How Intelligent Crime-Control Technology Amplifies Demands for Frontline Retail Workers."
Moradi, Pegah, Karen Levy, and Cristobal Cheyre. Forthcoming in the Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

“Pseudo-Automation: How Labor-Offsetting Technologies Reconfigure Roles and Relationships in Frontline Retail Work.” Moradi, Pegah, Karen Levy, and Cristobal Cheyre. Proceedings of the ACM: Human Computer Interaction (CSCW), 2025.

The Future of Work in the Age of AI: Displacement or Risk-Shifting? Moradi, Pegah, and Karen Levy. Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI. 2020.

In the news

“Automation in Retail Is Even Worse Than You Thought.” The Nation. January 22, 2025. 

"The Human in the Loop: Pegah Moradi on Automation, Discretion, and the Future of Frontline Work." Siegel Family Endowment. June 3, 2025. 

"AI Surveillance Won’t Stop Theft, but It Might Stop Unions." The American Prospect. June 6, 2025. 

"AI in the World Cup is a Labor Issue." Keeping the Score. July 18, 2026.