She Studied Psychology and Computer Science, Then Went to MIT to Rethink Technology: Meet Ila Kumar, Now Researching Trust & Safety

Ila Krishna Kumar’s journey from psychology and computer science to MIT research and Trust & Safety work reflects a growing belief in technology: the people most affected by digital systems should help shape how those systems are built.

What happens when someone studies both the human mind and computer science—and begins to question whether technology is being designed with the people it is supposed to serve?

For Ila Krishna Kumar, that question has shaped an academic and professional journey spanning psychology, computer science, mental health research, human-centred design and graduate research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Kumar’s work focuses on the relationship between technology and human well-being, particularly for young people and communities that have historically been underserved or marginalised by technology and mental healthcare systems.

Her journey has taken her from the University of Pennsylvania to MIT, where she is pursuing doctoral research, and more recently into Trust & Safety research at Google, according to information published on her professional profile.

At the centre of her work is a straightforward but significant idea: technology should not simply be built for communities. Wherever possible, the communities most affected by it should also have a meaningful role in its creation.

Where Psychology and Computer Science Came Together

Kumar completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in computer science.

The combination gave her an opportunity to study two very different but increasingly connected fields.

Psychology helped her examine human behaviour, emotion and mental health, while computer science offered a way to understand and build the digital systems increasingly shaping everyday life.

During her undergraduate years, Kumar worked on research involving anxiety, depression and psychophysiological data.

She also gained experience developing digital tools, including technology intended to support students from underprivileged backgrounds.

Those experiences helped shape an important question that would continue to influence her career:

Could technology be designed not only to perform efficiently, but also to meaningfully improve people’s lives?

For Kumar, the answer increasingly appeared to depend on how technology was designed—and, crucially, who was involved in the process.

A Career in User-Centred Technology

After completing her undergraduate studies, Kumar worked at Character Lab, an organisation focused on research and tools connected to human development.

Her roles reportedly evolved from junior product manager to UX strategist and later UX consultant.

Her work involved user-centred design and digital platforms connected to socioemotional research involving thousands of students.

The experience further developed her understanding of how research, design and technology can intersect.

It also reinforced a principle that would become increasingly important in her later work: technology intended to support people should begin by understanding the people who will actually use it.

From ‘Tech for Good’ to Designing With Communities

Kumar joined MIT in 2021, initially pursuing a master’s degree in the Affective Computing group.

Her experiences at the institution eventually led her to continue her academic work through a PhD.

According to an MIT News profile, Kumar now works with the Lifelong Kindergarten group, where her research explores what she describes as healing socio-digital interventions.

Her work focuses particularly on young people who have experienced developmental trauma.

Rather than approaching technology as something researchers create in isolation and later deliver to communities, Kumar emphasises collaborative design.

“We are not sitting at MIT designing tools and just throwing them at people,” Kumar told MIT News. “We’re designing it together.”

The statement captures a central idea behind her work: meaningful technology development requires more than technical expertise.

It also requires listening.

Why Co-Design Matters

Traditional technology development can often follow a familiar pattern.

Researchers or companies identify a problem, design a product and then ask users to adopt it.

Kumar’s approach challenges that sequence.

Her work emphasises involving people in the design process, especially when technology is intended to address deeply personal experiences such as trauma, emotional well-being or mental health.

This is particularly significant when designing for young people who may already have limited control over systems affecting their lives.

By involving communities directly, researchers can better understand what people need, what they find useful and what risks or unintended consequences a technology might create.

The approach can also help shift people from being passive recipients of technology to active participants in shaping it.

Exploring Visual Communication for Young People

One of Kumar’s projects has explored visual forms of communication for young people affected by trauma and involvement with the child welfare system.

Working alongside Stepping Forward LA and young people involved in the design process, the project examined how visual collages could help individuals communicate feelings that may be difficult to express through conventional language.

For some young people, particularly those dealing with traumatic experiences, putting complex emotions into words can be difficult.

Visual tools can potentially offer another way to communicate.

The project’s broader significance lies in its design philosophy.

Instead of assuming that researchers already know the best solution, the young people themselves were included in the process of exploring what a useful communication tool might look like.

Technology and Treatment Planning

In another project, Kumar has collaborated with the Justice Resource Institute, clinicians and young people on the development of a mobile application.

The project is intended to help young people play a more active role in their treatment planning.

Treatment planning can involve complex conversations between young people, caregivers and mental health professionals.

A technology designed to support that process must therefore consider more than technical functionality.

It also needs to consider communication, trust, accessibility, privacy and the power dynamics that can exist between institutions and the people receiving care.

Kumar’s work sits at the intersection of these questions.

Bringing Trauma-Informed Thinking Into Technology

A major theme across Kumar’s research is the application of trauma-informed frameworks to technology design.

Trauma-informed approaches generally seek to recognise how past experiences can affect a person’s behaviour, communication and sense of safety.

When technology is used in sensitive areas such as mental health, child welfare or youth services, those considerations can become especially important.

A poorly designed system can create confusion or reinforce existing inequalities.

A carefully designed system, however, may potentially support communication and participation.

The difference often depends on whether the people creating the technology understand the real-world context in which it will be used.

A New Focus on AI and Trust & Safety

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly accessible, Kumar has also turned her attention towards the relationship between young people and AI.

The rapid growth of AI tools has created new opportunities, but it has also raised important questions about safety, influence and decision-making.

Young people may increasingly turn to AI systems for information, emotional support or help with major personal decisions.

At the same time, parents and caregivers may not always fully understand how those systems work or how they may influence users.

Kumar has raised questions around these changing relationships between young people and AI technology.

Her academic interests have increasingly intersected with real-world questions about how technology companies should approach safety.

According to her professional profile, Kumar joined Google in June 2026 as a student researcher in Trust & Safety.

The role connects with a rapidly growing area of technology research focused on reducing harm and understanding how digital systems affect users.

Why Trust & Safety Is Becoming More Important

The growth of artificial intelligence has increased the importance of Trust & Safety work across the technology industry.

Questions surrounding harmful content, vulnerable users, misinformation, manipulation, privacy and responsible AI development have become central to discussions about the future of digital platforms.

For researchers working at the intersection of technology and human well-being, Trust & Safety presents a particularly important challenge.

Technology does not exist separately from society.

The way people use digital tools is shaped by age, culture, economic conditions, education, relationships and personal experiences.

Understanding those contexts can be critical when designing systems intended to be safe and responsible.

Kumar’s background in psychology, computer science and collaborative research gives her an interdisciplinary perspective on these questions.

From Studying People to Building Better Technology

Kumar’s career illustrates a growing shift in the technology sector.

For decades, technical education has often focused heavily on what computers can do.

Today, another question is becoming increasingly important: what should technology do, and who gets to decide?

Understanding human behaviour is becoming increasingly valuable in fields such as:

• Artificial intelligence
• UX and product design
• Digital mental health
• Online safety
• Human-computer interaction
• Responsible technology
• Child and youth technology
• Trust & Safety

Kumar’s academic journey brings several of these disciplines together.

Why Ila Kumar’s Journey Matters

The most striking aspect of Kumar’s career may be the question that runs through it.

Instead of treating psychology and computer science as separate worlds, her work demonstrates how the two can inform one another.

Technology may be built with code, algorithms and data, but it is ultimately used by people.

Those people have different experiences, vulnerabilities and needs.

For Kumar, understanding those experiences appears to be as important as understanding the technology itself.

Her journey from the University of Pennsylvania to MIT and into Trust & Safety research at Google reflects an increasingly important direction for the technology industry.

The future may not depend solely on developing more powerful systems.

It may also depend on making sure those systems are developed responsibly—and with the participation of the people whose lives they may affect.

The Final Take

Ila Krishna Kumar’s path from psychology and computer science to MIT research and Trust & Safety work highlights the growing importance of interdisciplinary thinking in technology.

Her work is centred on a principle that has implications far beyond one research project: people should not simply be the end users of technology designed in distant rooms.

Where possible, they should have a seat at the table.

From research involving mental health and young people to collaborative design and AI safety, Kumar’s work raises a question that technology companies, researchers and policymakers may increasingly need to confront.

Before building the next major digital tool, who should be involved in deciding what it becomes?

For Kumar, the answer appears clear: the people most affected by technology should be part of the process of shaping it.