Research

My research lies at the intersection of data science, animal welfare science, and AI fairness.

Publications

Prioritization of Risks from Artificial Intelligence: A Delphi Study of 272 International Experts
Saeri, A.K., Graham, J., Noetel, M., Slattery, P., et al. [184 authors, incl. Sheng, K.]
Submitted (2026) — MIT AI Risk Initiative, MIT FutureTech
Interactive Website Preprint
AI's Responsibility Gap chart from the AI risk prioritization Delphi study
"The Guardian is credible but leans towards opinion": Shadow mechanisms in GPT-5's web search and the politics of credibility
Terzis, P., Sheng, K., Sax, M., van Drunen, M., Sokol-Snyder, R., de León, E., Biega, A.
Submitted (2026)
Preprint
Diagram of GPT-5 web search pipeline from the shadow mechanisms study
Decoding individual dairy cow behavioural profiles through electronic feeder and drinker data
Sheng, K., Foris, B., Weary, D.M., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G.
Accepted (2026) — Journal of Dairy Science
Repeatability vs coefficient of variation plot for individual dairy cow behavioural profiles
Silencing controversial realities through prompt revision: The erasure of intensive livestock farming in text-to-image generative AI
Sheng, K., Tuyttens, F.A.M., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G.
Technology in Society (2026)
Also accepted & presented at ACM FAccT 2025, Athens, Greece
Paper Code
Visual representation of AI bias in livestock farming research
Redefining Lameness Assessment: Constructing Lameness Hierarchy using Crowd-Sourced Data
Sheng, K., Foris, B., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G., Timbers, T.A., Cabrera, V., Weary, D.M.
Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (2025)
Paper Code
Visual representation of lameness hierarchy research
Redefining dominance calculation: Increased competition flattens the dominance hierarchy in dairy cows
Sheng, K., Foris, B., Krahn, J., Weary, D.M., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G.
Journal of Dairy Science, 107(9): 7286-7298 (2024)
Paper Code
Visual representation of dominance hierarchy research
Crowd sourcing remote comparative lameness assessments for dairy cattle
Sheng, K., Foris, B., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G., Gardenier, J., Clark, C., Weary, D.M.
Journal of Dairy Science, 106(8): 5715-5722 (2023)
Paper
Visual representation of crowd sourcing lameness research
AI for One Welfare: the role of animal welfare scientists in developing valid and ethical AI-based welfare assessment tools
Foris, B., Sheng, K., Dürnberger, C., Oczak, M., Rault, J.L.
Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2025)
Paper
Visual representation of AI for One Welfare research
Automated, longitudinal measures of drinking behavior provide insights into the social hierarchy in dairy cows
Foris, B., Vandresen, B., Sheng, K., Krahn, J., Weary, D.M., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G.
JDS Communications, 5(5): 411-415 (2024)
Paper
Visual representation of automated longitudinal behavior research
Effects of group size on agonistic interactions in dairy cows: a descriptive study
Krahn, J., Foris, B., Sheng, K., Weary, D.M., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G.
Animal, 18(3): 101083 (2024)
Paper
Visual representation of group size effects research

Research Interests

Current Focus

  • AI bias and representation in animal welfare contexts
  • Automated farm animal behaviour andwelfaremonitoring
  • Reproducible research methodologies

Technical Expertise

  • The application of AI agents and generative AI models (e.g., large language models and text-to-image models)
  • Machine learning and computer vision for animal behavior analysis
  • Crowdsourcing and human-AI collaboration
  • Reproducible data science workflow and software development (R, Python)