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Cori Faklaris

@heycori1.bsky.social
243 followers 139 following 99 posts

Asst. Prof. at UNC Charlotte researching usable security, privacy, and AI. Director, SPEX research group and UNC Charlotte Cybersecurity Clinic. PhD, CMU HCII. Ex-journo. Cat mom.

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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I feel Christian's pain here: "AI is forcing me to abandon evidence-based best practices" for teaching and learning -- the evidence was collected before AI. I've also shifted most of the grade to what happens in-person. thelastsoftwareengineer.substack.com/p/how-i-chan...
thelastsoftwareengineer.substack.com
How I changed teaching after AI managed to do all my homework assignments
AI forced me to abandon evidence-based best pedagogy practices, focus on oral and written exams, and redo most assignments. Here is what we did in 17-645...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Damn, now I have to find money for the M5 Ultra ... www.macstories.net/stories/m5-u... Seriously amazed at how short of time it took to get to "little data center in a box" device for running local AI models.
macstories.net
M5 Ultra Mac Studio Review: The Dream Mac for Local AI Agents
For the past few days, I’ve been testing the (currently) top-of-the-line M5 Ultra Mac Studio with 256 GB of RAM. I’ll cut to the chase: the M5 Ultra Mac Studio is a dream machine for local AI agents. ...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
What a thought-provoking article ... I've always thought of Big Tech as a net positive for schools, but she's right, I am applying different standards to this industry than to say, Big Pharma. I'd go nuts at the idea of a Pfizer AP Bio course. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/b...
nytimes.com
How Big Tech Captured American Schools (Gift Article)
Companies like Google and Microsoft have used their money, their might and their massive reach to influence nearly every step of the education supply chain.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
✨ 🔐 Are you teaching an applied cybersecurity course, a usable security and privacy course, or a Cybersecurity Clinic concerned with AI risk assessment and mitigation? You'll be interested in this resource of explainers that I am writing -- the CyberAI Field Guide. spexlab.org/CyberAI_Fiel...
spexlab.org
CyberAI Field Guide: An Open-Source Text Collection
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
One of my top career motivations is to help other US citizens like me get PhDs. I spend time each summer talking about grad school with the NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) students. If like them you are PhD-curious, check out these slides: docs.google.com/presentation...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
This work would not have been possible without my 2024 Google Research Award. Many thanks to them for supporting our efforts to better understand needs for AI-powered security and privacy advice! cci.charlotte.edu/2026/05/14/p...
cci.charlotte.edu
Worlds away: Ph.D candidate Sarah Tabassum helps keep foreign students cyber-safe - College of Computing and Informatics
Sarah Tabassum, a Ph.D candidate in UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics, knows firsthand the unique challenges that face students who relocate thousands of miles away from home to pur...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Not good at all ... Trump Fires Board Members of Group That Oversees U.S. Science Funding www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Fires Board Members of Group That Oversees U.S. Science Funding
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Reposted by Cori Faklaris
Pedro Lopes @pedrolopes.org · 13/04/2026
The ACM CHI 2026 paper program is live on the ACM Digital Library, so please enjoy all the new 1702 pieces of science that #CHI2026 has for you: dl.acm.org/doi/proceedi... (cc @acm_chi ). p.s.: You can read our welcome message at dl.acm.org/action/showF...
dl.acm.org
Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems | ACM Conferences
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
We have a strong Human-Centered Computing and Education group at UNC Charlotte College of Computing and Informatics. I’m excited for what’s next! If you’re at #chi2026 and curious how we are growing, come find me to chat. ✨
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Heading back to Iowa City for 1st time since my parents moved away ... bit.ly/faklaris_4_3
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
There's sooo much competition for the title of "Most Brazenly and Publicly Unethical AI-related Thing in Tech" - Grammarly is giving a good run at it though! @caseynewton.bsky.social on has an epic takedown of its "Expert Review" feature. www.platformer.news/grammarly-ex...
platformer.news
Grammarly turned me into an AI editor against my will and I hate it
The company tells Platformer it will let experts opt out of the controversial feature — but how different is it than what every other AI company is doing?
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
New paper alert! 🦋 How do we stop the spread of "dangerous" (aka violence-inciting) speech without shutting down disagreement? Our paper in ACM Transactions on Social Computing debuts a more precise framework for moderation. blog.corifaklaris.com/2026/03/04/d... #AcademicSky #DigitalSafety #HCI
blog.corifaklaris.com
Developing a Precise Approach to Identifying Inciting Speech Online - Cori Faklaris' blog - HeyCori
The discourse around social media moderation often centers on the idea of “censorship” and protecting free expression vs. protecting conversation health via account bans (what my generation dubbed “Fa...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
I am sorry to miss #USEC2026 - I came down ill this week and had to cancel my travel. Please attend Sarah Tabassum's talk on her paper!
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I am part of the search for the Lowe's endowed chair in CS at UNC Charlotte. We are working with a search firm. If you or a colleague is interested, check out their ad at www.academicsearch.org/open-searche...
academicsearch.org
Academic Search
Committed to identifying and developing leaders by providing the highest level of executive search to our higher education partners.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Yikes: “Organic search fell by nearly half in the last three years, Murray wrote.” AI chatbots are further eroding the publishing business model. www.poynter.org/business-wor...
poynter.org
The Washington Post lays off a third of its staff - Poynter
The cuts affected nearly all corners of the newsroom and include the closures of the sports and books desks and several foreign bureaus
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Excited to share a preview of research to bridge security tech and user emotion 🦋 📊 For #CHI2026: New 15-item scale for measuring Cybersecurity Anxiety (CybAS). 🎨 For #USEC2026: Participatory design of AI-enabled advice interfaces for international students. blog.corifaklaris.com/2026/01/25/f...
blog.corifaklaris.com
From Anxiety to Agency: New Research on Human-Centered Security at CHI 2026 and USEC 2026 - Cori Faklaris' blog - HeyCori
These studies address the emotional and situational barriers to digital safety. By bridging the gap between user mental models and se % curity technology, we have developed a new psychometric scale % ...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Finally summited my personal Mount Olympus -- One of my papers won a conditional acceptance to CHI, the premier venue for human-computer interaction 🥰 I'll share the preprint and research story once it's officially signed off. For now, I'm simply basking in this rarest of good news. #chi2026
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Here's a handy tool for this era of GenAI Search Optimization (GEO) - a generator for your website's llms.txt file, to complement the robots.txt file you already have uploaded to root. llmrefs.com/tools/llms-t...
llmrefs.com
Free LLMs.txt Generator Online - AI SEO Tool - LLMrefs
Generate your llms.txt file for free. Our online tool helps AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity understand your website. Boost your AI search visibility in seconds.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Thank you Apple for adding more options and transparency tools to messaging. Our research in SMS phishing / smishing showed how helpful Android users found these affordances. Next, tell us how you use these flagged possible scam messages to improve the filters. #hci #usablesecurity #mobileUX
Screenshot of a pullout menu on Messages in iOS showing options such as Spam and Recently Deleted
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
The CLT Provisions concept for American Airlines sounded great until I realized there’s: - no WiFi - no lounge seating -no BATHROOMS - no refill for my water bottle In other words, the main things I want at the lounge besides snack stuff.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Every time I write a grant proposal, I try to keep my expectations level: "Maybe we'll get some good feedback." Then of course I get into the details, and my excitement grows. "This project HAS TO HAPPEN! I can't wait!" Recipe for heartbreak when yield is <10% :-( #academia
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Governments are not be thinking through the implications of collecting allllllll this data, until someone sues them and forces them to. neuburger.substack.com/p/cities-pan...
neuburger.substack.com
Cities Panic Over Having to Release Mass Surveillance Recordings
Flock's 'licence plate readers' read much more than license plates. A judge says what they record must be released.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
As an educator, I've moved from "How can I encourage AI?" to "How can they use it responsibly?" Read my latest syllabus policy and my reflections here: blog.corifaklaris.com/2025/11/02/e...
blog.corifaklaris.com
Evolution of My AI Syllabus Policy and Experience - Cori Faklaris' blog - HeyCori
I field a lot of questions from people outside academia about what I think of Generative AI (GenAI or just “AI”) in education. I am fortunate to teach upper-level electives for undergraduates and grad...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
This year’s meeting of the big anti-mobile fraud group (M3AAWG) is right here in Charlotte. Lucky to snag a speaker spot and guest registration! Here, listening to a woman from the Netflix “Tinder Swindler” doc recount her ordeal.
Woman speaking on a stageScreen grabs from the scam victim’s mobile phone.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Nice to have some good news for a change! www.charlotteobserver.com/news/busines...
charlotteobserver.com
Honeywell targets UNC Charlotte STEM students in $10M partnership deal
The Charlotte company’s money aims to jumpstart a tech pipeline.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Are you interested in - or even, teaching - Usable Security and Privacy? Check out my lectures on YouTube. I have been re-recording and posting these to a playlist. Subscribe! youtu.be/O4nz5cyGLtg?... #usablesecurity #usableprivacy #cybersecurity #onlineprivacy
youtu.be
Usable Security
YouTube video by Cori Faklaris
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
In Seattle for the 21st Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (#SOUPS2025)! I will moderate a session on Internet of Things / Smart Home papers and present a poster on user-tested ideas for trust indicators in mobile messaging. lnkd.in/eNYCeqnm
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
We had a busy summer in the SPEX Lab! Thanks to UNC Charlotte Office of Undergrad Research and Center for STEM Education, the NSF REU program, and Army Educational Opportunities Program for sponsoring undergrad and HS students. www.facebook.com/share/p/175H...
Dr. Cori Faklaris, left, and Kenta Sakamoto stand before his poster on analyzing US and NC survey data about AI perceptions.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
New blog post on my busy 2025 - publishing on S&P concerns of educational migrants, smishing indicators, visualizing bias in image generation, and other topics. blog.corifaklaris.com/2025/06/02/f...
blog.corifaklaris.com
Five (!) new papers published in the first half of 2025 - Cori Faklaris' blog - HeyCori
I’m a fan of the African (maybe?) proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” In research, collaboration – bringing together different perspectives and shared reso...
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Reposted by Cori Faklaris
🅡🅞🅑 🅜🅔🅢🅤🅡🅔 @robmesure.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
I have been logged out of my toothbrush.
An Oral-B login screen.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
I ❤️this sent w/a SMS texted code: “If someone asks you for this code STOP; it's a SCAM. We will NEVER contact you for this code. Only enter it online to login.” Gets your attention. Clearly worded. Informational. Fits in the message/preview window. 💯 #smishing #phishing #cybersecurity
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Lyft’s Priority Pickuo is a waste of money.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
I tell people: Talk the AI through what you want done as if it is an intern. (Because it basically is.)
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Reposted by Cori Faklaris
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Racist and sexist roots in the cancellation of NSF grants under Trump: Grants with female PIs canceled 2x more than men Grants with Black PIs canceled 4x over White PIs Grants with Hispanic PIs canceled 2x over White PIs Grants with PIs with disabilities canceled 2x more than without
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I went 2 years without seeing any LLM-hallucinated references in student work. Until this past week, when I or a TA have caught six fake papers via manual inspection. One was supposedly a paper of mine! In very related news, newer AI models show high rates of error. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/t...
nytimes.com
A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting Worse
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
What I was afraid of on Friday, when I shared that warning to download and save everything from the NSF site ...
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Reposted by Cori Faklaris
Sarah Gilbert @sarahagilbert.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
The mods of r/ChangeMyView shared the sub was the subject of a study to test the persuasiveness of LLMs & that they didn't consent. There’s a lot that went wrong, so here’s a 🧵 unpacking it, along with some ideas for how to do research with online communities ethically. tinyurl.com/59tpt988
tinyurl.com
From the changemyview community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the changemyview community
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Wow. Someone at the Univ. of Zurich decided to conduct an unauthorized experiment on the Change My View subreddit. The mods are understandably pissed off. www.reddit.com/r/changemyvi...
reddit.com
From the changemyview community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the changemyview community
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Oh brother. Apparently the Research dot gov system is imminently undergoing DOGE-ification ...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
I am a little baffled by this EO. They **just** canceled NSF grants about AI education. They don't want us to target subpopulations (K-12). They're killing the Education Dept., which would be the natural agency to make the initiative happen. How will this happen? www.nextgov.com/artificial-i...
nextgov.com
Trump unveils sweeping order to bring AI into US education
The executive order forms a new task force and leverages existing grant programs focused on improving AI education in the U.S.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
I really really really really really really really miss having an entire week (as a Phd student) to prepare my author response to #SOUPS reviewer comments.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
On the smishing front: an int'l student told me that he & others @unccharlotte getting hit w the "AR-11 form" scam. Attacker claims this form was never filed (which is the uni's job), and demands money & acct data. iss.washington.edu/alert-ar-11-...
iss.washington.edu
Alert! AR-11 Scam Targeting International Students - International Student Services
A warning about scammers posing as USCIS officers targeting F and J international students with fake AR-11 threats.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
My latest blog post: how I am adapting the role-play paper-reading format for my Human-Centered AI class. lnkd.in/eABfatUc Tl;dr - I'm mostly satisfied with how this new-to-me teaching method is benefiting students, but some aspects will need tweaking.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
This gets at some of my personal frustrations with both parties - their priorities are not the country but the short term future. It’s terrible for us. Democrats Have to Stop Making Political Decisions with an Eye Towards 2026 www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/14/d...
emptywheel.net
Democrats Have to Stop Making Political Decisions with an Eye Towards 2026 - emptywheel
Democracy will be preserved or lost in the next three months. And democracy will be won or lost via a nonpartisan political fight over whether enough Americans want to preserve their way of life to fi...
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Reposted by Cori Faklaris
The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 03/03/2025
“I’m Not a Robot,” a darkly comic film about a woman trying to convince her computer that she is human, won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. It is the second film released by The New Yorker to be honored with an Oscar.
newyorker.com
The New Yorker Film “I’m Not a Robot” Wins a 2025 Academy Award
The Oscar for Best Live Action Short went to Victoria Warmerdam’s darkly comic tale about a woman who fails a series of CAPTCHA tests.
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Reposted by Cori Faklaris
Megan Greenwell @greenwell.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
It has come to my attention that not nearly enough of you know about Bernd das Brot, the German children's program about a clinically depressed loaf of bread who enjoys studying his wallpaper and eating gruel and whose catchphrases include "my life is hell" and "I would like to leave this show."
An anthropomorphic loaf of bread with bulging eyeballs and hands that grow directly out of his body, next to his mouth, and look oddly human except that there are only four fingers. The photo is good but I must implore you to check out the video.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
It was a delight today to present on "Social Dynamics of Cybersecurity" for the Cognitive Science Institute talk series. I covered: - SA-6 + SA-13 attitude measures - the Security + Privacy Acceptance Framework (SPAF) - recent work on social influences and obstacles to adoption
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Talking with a student just now in general terms about the times we live in e.g. why my week was again crazy: "Wow, I didn't know that some of that stuff affected YOU. I thought it was only affecting research." Reminder 1,523,023 that the general public doesn't understand professor == researcher.
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Glad to lend my voice to @wcnc-charlotte.bsky.social's reporting on this important issue. I appreciate CINC Systems clarifying that it will not resell individuals' data. #privacy #security #HoA www.wcnc.com/article/mone...
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Cori Faklaris @heycori1.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Whew! My Security and Privacy Experiences (SPEX) group made FOUR paper submissions this week to the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security! I'm VERY proud of my students. #soups2025 #fingerscrossed
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