International Audio Laboratories Erlangen

M.Sc. Anna Leschanowsky

I am a research associate in the Human-Machine Interaction group with a background in audio and speech processing and human-machine interaction. My research interests lie at the intersection of voice technology, human-machine interaction, and privacy.

Conversational AI systems have become increasingly popular in a wide range of applications, providing personalized and seamless experiences for users, and promoting accessibility and inclusivity. However, as these systems gather and analyze vast amounts of user data, there are important implications for users' privacy that must be considered. My research seeks to understand these implications and develop innovative solutions, ensuring that Conversational AI systems can be used effectively while also protecting user privacy. Furthermore, I aim to understand the impact of bias on voice technologies, develop frameworks to detect and mitigate such biases, and explore the ethical and societal implications that arise from them.

Feel free to reach out for discussions about Conversational AI, voice technology and privacy and fairness aspects.

News
October, 21, 2024 Together with Birgit Popp, I'll be teaching the seminar on "Data Governance Foundations" at FAU this winter term.
September/October, 30 - 2, 2024 Looking forward to the IEEE International Symposium on the Internet of Sounds where I serve as the student volunteer coordinator.
September, 10-13, 2024 I am taking part in the Summer School on Security and Privacy in the Age of AI
September, 6, 2024 I am excited to present our paper "Examining the Interplay Between Privacy and Fairness for Speech Processing: A Review and Perspective" at the 4th Symposium on Security and Privacy in Speech Communication which has received the Best Paper Award!
August, 14-16, 2024 Together with Birgit Popp, I'll be teaching "Data Governance Foundations" at this year's Informatica Feminale.
June, 18, 2024 Our journal paper "Evaluating privacy, security, and trust perceptions in conversational AI: A systematic review" is now available!
June, 17, 2024 Casandra Rusti and I present at the SPSC Webinar.
April, 22, 2024 I am speaking at the 3. Regensburger Cybersecurity-Kongress
April, 14-19, 2024 I am presenting our paper "Voice Anonymization for All - Bias Evaluation of the Voice Privacy Challenge Baseline System" at ICASSP 2024
March, 8, 2024 Student Anjana Rajasekhar won the Best Student Paper Award at the 35th Conference on Electronic Speech Signal Processing (ESSV) for the paper Towards Speech Privacy Assessment for Voice Assistants: Exploring Subjective and Objective Measures for Babble Noise
January, 19, 2024 I've successfully passed the Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) Exam
Show Archive |
| | |---|---| | December, 13, 2023 | I was elected Vice Chair of the [AES Germany](https://aesgermany.org/) for the term 2024/2025! | | November, 22-23, 2023 | I am presenting our position paper "Experts-in-the-Loop: Establishing an Effective Workflow in Crafting Privacy Q&A" at [Conversations 2023](https://2023.conversations.ws/) in Oslo! | | November, 9, 2023 | I am speaking at the [World Usability Day 2023 Nürnberg](https://www.gupanue.de/). | | October, 21, 2023 | We are at the [Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2023](https://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/de/muv/2023/lange-nacht.html)! Visit us at Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen and explore privacy dialogues for speech assistants! | | October, 16-17, 2023 | I am excited to present our paper "Privacy Strategies for Conversational AI and their Influence on Users’ Perceptions and Decision-Making" at the [European Symposium on Usable Security 2023](https://eurousec23.itu.dk/#program)! | | September, 25-28, 2023 | Our paper "Benchmark Dataset Dynamics, Bias and Privacy Challenges in Voice Biometrics Research" was accepted at [IEEE International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB 2023)](https://ijcb2023.ieee-biometrics.org/)! Looking forward to meeting colleagues from [FairEVA](https://www.faireva.org/) and attending the Doctoral Consortium there. | | September, 13-15, 2023 | I am at the [Responsible AI Forum 2023](https://responsibleaiforum.com/) to talk about privacy dialogues in Conversational AI | | September, 9, 2023 | My first Journal paper ["Debiasing Strategies for Conversational AI: Improving Privacy and Security Decision- Making"](https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00062-2) is now available! | | September, 7, 2023 | Looking forward to participating in the podium discussion on Gender bias in AI at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg organized by Women in AI & Robotics | | July, 23-28, 2023 | I'll be presenting our paper "Uncertain yet rational - Uncertainty as an Evaluation Measure of Rational Privacy Decision-Making in Conversational AI" at the [HCII International 2023](https://2023.hci.international/index.html) | | June, 25-30, 2023 | I am taking part in the [Fifth Interdisciplinary Summerschool on Privacy](https://isp.cs.ru.nl/2023/) | | June, 8-10, 2023 | I am off to New York to showcase [Predication XR](https://hastac2023.sched.com/event/1LeWc/prediction-ar-an-augmented-reality-experience) with the XR artist Michaela Pnacekova at [HASTAC](https://hastac2023.org/) | | April, 16, 2023 | My talk from the [European Chatbot & Conversational AI Summit](https://theeuropeanchatbot.com/) is now available [online](https://youtu.be/xZl5gcq11yw) | | March, 20-24, 2023 | Meet me and [FairEVA](https://www.faireva.org/) at the [Mozilla Festival 2023](https://www.mozillafestival.org/en/) | | March, 15 & 16, 2023 | I am at the [European Chatbot & Conversational AI Summit](https://theeuropeanchatbot.com/) to talk about privacy dialogues in Conversational AI |

Student Jobs

You can reach out to me anytime to get further information about student jobs or propose an idea.

Current Students

  • Anjana Rajasekhar: HiWi + Master Thesis
  • Sheetal Vijapurapu: HiWi
  • Asma Shaikh: Research Intern + Master Thesis
  • Santhwana Thadavantavida: Research Intern + HiWi

Scientific Reviewer

  • IEEE Signal Processing Letters
  • ACM CHI 2025
  • Social Inclusion (ISSN: 2183-2803)

Certification

  • Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) by IAPP - International Association of Privacy Professionals

Awards and Honors

  • Best Paper Award, 4th Symposium on Security and Privacy in Speech Communication (SPSC), 2024
  • Best Student Paper Award, Conference on Electronic Speech Signal Processing (ESSV), 2024
  • Master Award Siemens AG Corporate Technology, 2022