Jasmine Banks
Media and social psychologist
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My name is Jasmine Banks, and I am a 6th-year Ph.D. candidate in psychology and Digital Studies at the University of Michigan. I am on the job market as of August 2025!
I am a multidisciplinary researcher that's interested in world-building practices of humans, especially as they intersect with technology. My research spans both academic and applied contexts while also exploring public scholarship and artistic practices as ways of generating and sharing knowledge. I draw on qualitative, mixed-methods, and experimental methods in my work. I also have experience conducting community-based research, curriculum development, and program evaluation working with homeless shelters, schools, and other programs.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Intellectual Curiosity
What does it mean to exist, to be alive, and to be Black in our current world? This question drives my intellectual curiosity. I am deeply interested in how meaning-making and world-building practices manifest in the everyday and how technology intersects with these inquiries. These explorations have led me down fascinating paths I am eager to pursue further.
The Intersection of Technology, race, and Identity
My research investigates the intersections of race, identity, culture, and technology. I am particularly focused on how Blackness is constructed, perceived, and performed within digital spaces, exploring the complex relationship between digital identity development, meaning-making processes, and the affective experiences of Black users. My work critically examines how these experiences unfold against the historical and social foundations of inequality in the U.S.
Online Dating
I’m interested in the experiences and psychological impacts of online dating. This work began with my first study, where I interviewed twenty Black women about their experiences navigating racial fetishization and belonging on dating apps. Since then, I’ve been exploring how people navigate love and attraction through algorithms—how we come to trust (or distrust) the swipe. My current research examines what shapes that faith in matching systems, from subtle political or identity cues in profiles to the ways design quietly nudges us toward certain choices. Ultimately, I’m interested in what our swiping habits reveal about belief, bias, and the psychology of how technology organizes desire.
AI Ethics and Philosophy
I currently study how seemingly ethical AI frameworks like longtermism and effective altruism actually function in practice. Through my work with Reparative AI, I've become fascinated by an interesting pattern where the most well-funded "ethical" AI approaches consistently redirect attention away from the communities experiencing algorithmic harm right now toward hypothetical future risks.
What draws me to this research is understanding the psychology behind it—why do genuinely well-meaning people fall for frameworks that sound moral but systematically ignore present-day suffering? How do philosophies like longtermism become so persuasive that people prioritize preventing speculative AI apocalypses over addressing documented bias against pregnant Black women in facial recognition systems, or exploitative labor conditions for content moderators earning $2/hour?
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