Skip to main content

LSE: The Ballpark | Behavioural AI and decision-making with Professor Ganna Pogrebna

As the popularity of AI grows, this new technology is increasingly being applied to make decisions based on interactions with humans, and their behaviours. But what happens if the way these AI systems have been built mean that they get it wrong?
As the popularity of AI grows, this new technology is increasingly being applied to make decisions based on interactions with humans, and their behaviours. But what happens if the way these AI systems have been built mean that they get it wrong?
Monday 14 September 2026 | 33 minutes 10 seconds
Listen on SoundCloudDownload File | 45.58MB

As the popularity of AI continues to grow, this new technology is increasingly being applied to make decisions based on interactions with humans, and their behaviours. But what happens if the way these AI systems have been built mean that they get it wrong? AI systems are increasingly being used to make important decisions about people but are often being designed as if people don’t exist.

In July 2026 the Phelan US Centre spoke to behavioural data scientist, Ganna Pogrebna, the David Trimble Chair in Leadership and Organisational Transformation at Queen’s University Belfast Business School, about these issues and how to navigate them as AI development continues.

The conversation covers how AI can make existing human biases worse, how businesses often design AI systems that don’t take people into account, and how we might need to train ourselves to think better when we work with AI.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

Take the Ballpark Listener survey and enter the prize draw for £250 in vouchers!

The Ballpark is ten years old in 2026, and we want to hear from you to make the podcast even better, so we’re running a listener survey.