Professor Clare Mutzenich is Professor of Practice in Human–AI Interaction in the School of Design and Creative Arts. She is a behavioural scientist and human factors specialist whose work focuses on a deceptively simple question: what actually happens when people have to live, work and make decisions with AI?
Her work examines trust in AI, attention and decision-making, over-reliance and misunderstanding of automated systems, human oversight, public adoption, safety, accessibility and inclusive design. She is particularly interested in the gap between how intelligent systems are expected to be used and how people actually behave when they encounter them in the real world.
Clare holds a PhD in Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London, where her doctoral research examined human interaction with automated driving systems. Before joining Loughborough she worked across applied research, consultancy, education and policy. She is also founder and Director of human insight consultancy Anthrometric.
As a Professor of Practice, Clare’s role is deliberately positioned between academia and the outside world. She brings live challenges from industry, government and public services into the University, while helping translate Loughborough’s research and expertise into evidence that can inform technology development, policy, regulation and organisational decision-making.
Her work spans AI and emerging technology, with particular expertise in self-driving transport, human–AI collaboration and systems in which people and AI share control or responsibility. She works extensively with government, industry, standards organisations and other institutions in the UK and internationally.
Clare is Vice Chair of RoSPA’s National Road Safety Committee, Co-Chair of the PAVE Europe Academic Council and an adviser to BSI. She speaks at industry and policy events and provides media commentary on how people understand, trust and respond to AI and emerging technologies.
Clare’s research focuses on human–AI interaction: how people understand, trust, use and respond to intelligent and automated systems in real-world settings.
Her research interests include appropriate trust and reliance on AI; attention and situational awareness; human oversight and shared control; the communication of system capability and uncertainty; adoption and public acceptance; accessibility and inclusive design; safety-critical interaction; and the behavioural consequences of introducing AI into existing services and systems.
A significant strand of her work examines automated and self-driving transport as a real-world example of human–AI interaction. This includes how people respond when vehicles take over tasks previously performed by humans; how passengers seek help or reassurance when no driver is present; remote assistance; emergency situations; transition of control; accessible automated passenger services; and how safety evidence is understood by the public.
Her recent applied research has used virtual reality, experimental methods, qualitative research and inclusive co-design to study interactions that are difficult or unsafe to recreate in the real world. She has led or contributed to research commissioned by UK Government and industry, including work associated with the Department for Transport and Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
Increasingly, Clare is applying this human factors perspective beyond transport to the wider adoption of AI in organisations, public services and everyday life: where humans should remain involved, what meaningful oversight looks like, and how systems can be designed around the realities of human behaviour rather than assumptions about it.
She welcomes collaboration with researchers, industry and policymakers working on AI adoption, human–AI collaboration, responsible AI, safety, trust, accessibility and the real-world deployment of emerging technologies.
As Professor of Practice, Clare contributes an applied, industry-facing perspective to teaching and student development, helping connect academic theory with the realities of how new technologies are designed, commissioned, regulated and introduced into society.
Her teaching interests include human–AI interaction, human factors, behavioural science, inclusive research and design, emerging technologies, trust and adoption, responsible innovation, and the translation of research evidence into policy and practice.
She has extensive previous experience in education, having taught psychology and sociology across further and higher education and held senior teaching roles before moving into research and consultancy.
Clare is particularly interested in helping students critically examine not simply what AI can do, but what changes when it becomes embedded within products, professions, organisations and everyday life: how people adapt to it, where new risks emerge, what remains a human responsibility and whose needs may be overlooked during innovation.
Clare works extensively at the interface between research, industry and policy and is particularly interested in translating evidence about human behaviour into better technology, regulation and public policy.
She is Vice Chair of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) National Road Safety Committee and Co-Chair of the PAVE Europe Academic Council, and contributes to standards activity through BSI. She regularly chairs and contributes to international discussions on AI, automated transport, human factors, accessibility and road safety.
Alongside her University role, Clare is founder and Director of Anthrometric, a human insight consultancy specialising in behavioural science, inclusive design and emerging technologies. This continuing engagement with practice is central to her role as a Professor of Practice at Loughborough.
Clare is available for media commentary, policy discussion and industry collaboration on topics including:
- AI and human behaviour;
- trust and over-reliance on AI;
- how people understand AI;
- human oversight of AI;
- AI safety and responsibility;
- public acceptance and adoption of AI;
- AI in everyday life and public services;
- inclusive and accessible AI;
- self-driving vehicles and automated transport;
- human–AI interaction;
- and the behavioural risks created when technology changes faster than people, organisations or regulation.