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About

Say Young Kim is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of cognitive science, psycholinguistics, and human-agent interaction. Her work explores how language shapes social cognition, particularly in bilingual speakers and their interactions with artificial agents. Kim’s most cited paper, “Effects of cross-cultural language differences on social cognition during human-agent interaction in cooperative game environments” (2023, 13 citations), demonstrates how linguistic frameworks influence trust and cooperation with AI. She further investigates linguistic relativity in bilinguals, showing that switching languages triggers cognitive shifts that alter speech patterns with artificial agents (2023, 2 citations). Her latest work (2025, 2 citations) introduces a novel concept—artificial agents that use “anticipatory speech” to speculate about future possibilities, mirroring a key human social bonding mechanism. This research has implications for designing more natural, cooperative AI. Kim’s contributions bridge psycholinguistics and AI design, offering insights into how language, thought, and machine interaction intersect. Her findings are vital for developing culturally adaptive agents and understanding bilingual cognition in digital spaces.