Digital Anthropologist & AI Expert Focused on How People Relate To One Another Through Emerging Intelligent Technologies
Jennifer Cearns Biography
Jennifer Cearns is an AI Anthropologist researching how people form relationships — with one another, and with intelligent technologies.
Her work looks at human–AI intimacy: therapeutic AI, romantic relationships with AI companions, and grief technology that lets people maintain connections with the dead. Cearns is interested in how generative AI is reshaping ideas of the self, empathy, and connection in increasingly mediated worlds.
A Lecturer in AI in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester, and Series Editor of the "Anthropology & AI" series at the Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Cearns previously held academic positions at KU Leuven, UCL, the Alan Turing Institute, and the Royal Anthropological Institute.
In April 2026, Cearns gave a TED talk, "How AI Makes Us More Human," in Vancouver. Her research and commentary have appeared on BBC News, BBC Radio 4, BBC Click, and in a Netflix documentary series on AI relationships. She writes and speaks regularly for both academic and public audiences.
Cearns' research is grounded in long-term ethnographic fieldwork across Brazil, Cuba, the United States, Guyana, Panama, Mexico, Spain, and the UK. Before returning to academia, she spent over a decade as a UX consultant (eBay, Airbnb, Macmillan, TransferWise, and others), bringing anthropological method to how digital systems are actually built.
Her first book, "Circulating Culture," was shortlisted for both the Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists First Book Prize and the Society for Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology Book Prize. Her next book, "Intelligent Artifice," on AI companionship and grief technology, is currently in progress.
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Jennifer Cearns Speaking Topics
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What AI reveals about being human
Anthropology as a lens on artificial intelligence.
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AI and human relationships
Companionship, intimacy, and what we outsource to machines.
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What topics does Jennifer Cearns speak about?
Jennifer Cearns is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics & Integrity, European Heritage, Family & Parenting, Futurism, Mental Health, Modern Media, Personal Growth, Professors, Research & Exploration, Social Sciences, Technology, TED, Women in Tech -
Where does Jennifer Cearns travel from?
Jennifer Cearns generally travels from London, UK, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent. -
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Jennifer Cearns is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as What AI reveals about being human, AI and human relationships, Grief technology and AI in therapy and mental health. The estimated speaking fee range to book Jennifer Cearns for your event is available upon request. Jennifer Cearns generally travels from London, UK and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Olympia LePoint, Laura Ellis, Vivienne Ming, Hannah Fry and Julissa S. Germosén. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Jennifer Cearns for an upcoming live or virtual event.
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