School of Psychological Science graduate student Alejandra Hilbert’s work alludes to a promising—and tech-driven—future
Alejandra Hilbert
By Selene Lawrence, CLA Student Writer - November 21, 2025
As a researcher, tech enthusiast, and up-and-coming scholar of engineering psychology, Alejandra Hilbert is an unstoppable force. From the dawning completion of her master’s degree to the impressive variety of research projects she’s assisted in during her first year at Oregon State, Hilbert has worked hard to forge her own path to accomplish her ambitions. Beneath the passion for her field and the endless ripples of potential research ideas, she possesses the discipline and proficiency of a seasoned psychologist, something that will only uplift her as she continues her progress in her doctoral program. With four years to go until completing her Ph.D., it is clear that Hilbert will undoubtedly prove herself a scientist to keep an eye on.
Hilbert, a second-generation immigrant and a first-generation student, grew up in Sacramento, California. Like many, she was introduced to psychology through the enduring crime thrillers on network television. “I was obsessed with Law & Order,” she recalled. “There’s a character in the show who's a psychologist, and the way that he approached criminality and people who were incarcerated stood out to me. I knew it wasn't accurate, but from watching that show, I knew from a really young age that I wanted to be a psychologist.” Hilbert was the first in her family to go to college, starting off at Sacramento’s American River College before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with degrees in legal studies and psychology.
While her initial focus was legal and forensic psychology, Hilbert decided that it wasn’t the right fit. “It was really amazing work, especially being able to do research that directly impacted policy and legislature, but it was also draining,” she explained. “I learned very quickly that I wasn’t built for that life.” After graduating, Hilbert was hired as a lab manager and research assistant at UC Berkeley’s Risk-Resilience Lab, where she worked for three years and is still affiliated with today. She didn’t know it at the time, but that role would ultimately inspire her to explore her current field. A study designing a video game to strategically reduce aggression in young boys placed Hilbert on an interdisciplinary team of psychologists and criminologists, as well as game developers, designers, and producers. “Seeing how these elements of different fields all came together was really magical for me,” she said. “Until I worked on that project, I never thought to combine my love of psychology and my love of technology as a research discipline. Engineering psychology felt like a melding of all the different things I’m passionate about.”
Once Hilbert began to explore her interest in human-computer interaction, everything fell into place. She became immersed in engineering psychology and applied experimental research. Hilbert began to look into Ph.D. programs before deciding on just a few to apply to. “I'm a firm believer that if you're going to do something, you should do it right,” she said, “I only wanted to go to schools that I felt really compelled to attend. OSU had the perfect mix.” On her first visit to OSU, Hilbert knew that it was the school for her. “I felt like my presence was valued, that the faculty cared about who I was, and were excited that I wanted to come here,” she said, “it's been such an encouraging environment.”
Hilbert is currently in the process of completing her master’s thesis, a study evaluating how using ChatGPT affects authentic written expression. In spoken or written interaction, people naturally tend to echo the language of their conversation partner. Hilbert’s research will evaluate the same phenomenon in human-AI interactions. “I’m studying how much we’re adopting ChatGPT's language and how it might change the language we use over time,” she said. “Artificial intelligence is embedded into the fabric of our lives. I'm really interested in how it's impacting our natural language production.”
With hundreds of millions of weekly users, ChatGPT is one of the most popular and well-known generative AI tools. However, as ChatGPT use becomes more widespread, concerns about its impact—and that of other large language models (LLMs)—continue to grow. In the past year, more and more people have spoken out about environmental concerns around the data centers that power generative AI and the ethical issues (including privacy, copyright, misinformation, and bias) around collecting the data to train LLMs. Some, like Hilbert, are concerned with the larger cognitive impacts of using generative AI tools. “I see it as a tool that brings opportunity, but should be approached with skepticism,” she said. “Generative AI is now a frequent conversational partner, its rise brings questions about eroding linguistic diversity and the potential to dull our individual writing skills. The language of the tool may become the language of the user.”
Hilbert may be studying the potential drawbacks of regular ChatGPT use, but she isn’t afraid to interact with it. As an avid technologist, Hilbert has found that the tool assists her with her work in social media and science communications. “I think that the best research comes from personal problems,” she said. “I use ChatGPT almost daily, oftentimes to help me generate images, polish my writing, or make content fit within social media parameters. It became clear to me that I was being fed the same sentence structure every day. Eventually, I felt like I was mimicking it; I was just reading so many outputs that it became difficult not to mirror what I had been reading all that time.” The experience not only inspired her master’s thesis but also prompted Hilbert to reevaluate her interactions with AI. “It's made me a more aware user. I'm using it in a different way,” she explained, “I'm being more intentional about what I'm asking the machine to do for me.”
The completion of her master’s degree is on the horizon, and Hilbert’s ambition shows no sign of waning. She has many ideas for future research projects around AI use, as existing studies have yet to catch up with contemporary AI trends. “There is AI research, but much of it predates the boom. Given how much shifted in the past year, it’s important to revisit those questions as earlier research is context-bound and often dated,” Hilbert explained. “Since public biases toward AI have evolved, pre-boom study samples may no longer reflect today’s users, which means the results may differ.” She added, “I'd like to research racial differences and technology use. One of my best friends has never used AI and refuses to ever use it. We’re both Black women, but we have very different perspectives on technology. She feels like she has to work twice as hard and doesn't want to give anybody a reason to think she's taking shortcuts. Like my friend, I feel the pressure to prove my worth as a Black woman. I love technology, and I use AI to amplify my effort. I'm really curious about perspectives amongst Black Americans on the use of AI.”
Hilbert has high hopes for AI in psychology and beyond. In her research, it’s safe to say that she won’t just be watching and waiting; she’ll be working toward solutions. “I really hope to see AI that is less dependent on physical resources. I’d like to see efforts toward building a system that’s less environmentally taxing,” she said. “AI has done some amazing things with human supervision, whether it be helping to map genomes that we have not been able to otherwise, or finding ways to preserve languages that have been lost. We have this beautiful tool that has very quickly had some amazing applications; I hope we can find ways to create synergy between machines and humans as opposed to finding ways to replace humans with machines.”
Apart from her thesis, Hilbert is involved with several other research projects at Oregon State University. In the Applied Cognitive Theory, Usability & Learning (ACTUAL) Lab led by her advisor, Dr. Christopher Sanchez, she works on designing and administering studies and training undergraduate students. “Dr. Sanchez is a jack-of-all-trades,” she said. “It’s been a privilege to work so closely with him. He’s spent hours helping me turn my big ideas into studies grounded in theory and good science. I am very grateful for his mentorship.” Hilbert’s interdisciplinary specialty also lends to her extensive collaboration with the College of Engineering. She recently assisted with an experiment led by Dr. Naomi Fitter, which aims to increase engineering identity in children through a workshop of educational activities, and one led by Dr. Julie Adams in collaboration with NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration. The experiment studied the physiological and cognitive factors that influence pilots’ ability to operate multiple drones simultaneously.
Another one of Hilbert’s projects, a study in immersive technologies, is similar to the experiment that led her to fall in love with engineering psychology. The study utilizes virtual reality and other technologies in evaluating how changes to our environment using modern technology can increase attentional resources when working on a computer. “I’m focused on evaluating and building technology that helps people learn, perform, and flourish.,” Hilbert said. “Research is all about storytelling: picking a story, getting to learn more about it, and portraying the story accurately. The story I love to tell is about how technology can help humans.”