The Human-AI Cognition Lab (HAIC Lab) is an independent, fully remote research lab founded in 2026 by Sudhanshu Garg (an IIT Bombay alumnus).
Unlike traditional usability or UI/UX labs that focus on product speed and ease of use, HAIC Lab focuses on cognitive science, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). Their core focus is understanding how human thinking, agency, and decision-making change when interacting with conversational and generative AI systems.
Core Mission & Research Philosophy
The lab operates on the premise that AI is no longer just a passive tool; it has become an active environment in which humans think.
Instead of asking "Does AI make users faster?", HAIC Lab asks:
- What happens to human memory, judgment, and focus when an AI can generate work on demand?
- How do humans maintain control and ownership over their work when AI contributes heavily to the process?
Key Research Focus Areas
HAIC Lab operates across five main research pillars:
- Cognition and Control in AI-Assisted Work: How humans guide, correct, and retain moral/operational responsibility for AI-driven outcomes.
- Attention, Interruption, and Resumption: How people jump back into complex, unfinished tasks after being interrupted and how context is rebuilt across fragmented AI sessions.
- Sensemaking and Reflection: How users turn scattered information and AI outputs into genuine understanding, pattern identification, and updated beliefs.
- Cognitive Offloading and Personal Infrastructure: How personal notes, threads, and AI assistants function as external memory systems and how they start participating in human thought processes.
- Agency, Authorship, and Self-Worth: How human self-worth, sense of skill, and intellectual ownership are affected when an AI system generates a large portion of the work.
Current Publications & Leadership
- Founder & Principal Researcher: Sudhanshu Garg (B.Tech & M.Tech, IIT Bombay).
- Recent Publication: "Interruptive Thinking: An Empirical Study of Operator-Side Control in AI Interaction" (Presented at PPIG 2026, UCL Interaction Centre, London, July 2026). This research analyzes how users redirect, interrupt, and re-engage during AI-assisted thinking sessions using real interaction data.
Requirements
- PhD (completed or recently awarded), Postdoctoral experience, or equivalent research experience in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-AI Interaction, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Cognitive Science, Psychology, Computer Science, or any related discipline.
- Strong academic writing, research, and critical thinking skills.
- Experience conducting independent research and publishing scholarly work is preferred.
- Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, remote environment.
- Genuine curiosity about how humans interact with AI and emerging technologies.
What You'll Gain
- Work directly with the founder on high-impact, frontier research.
- Help build a new Human-AI research lab from the ground up.
- Opportunity to contribute to publications and long-term research initiatives.
- High ownership, flexibility, and intellectual freedom.
Pay: ₹15,000.00 - ₹20,000.00 per month
Benefits:
- Leave encashment
- Provident Fund
- Work from home
Application Question(s):
- Please describe your most relevant research experience in HCI, Human-AI Interaction, Cognitive Science, Psychology, or a related field. What was your specific contribution?
- This role includes a mandatory 3-month probation (regardless of experience) with a salary of ₹15,000-₹20,000/month. Confirmation is subject to successful performance. Do you agree?
Education:
Work Location: Remote
