Qiannan Li

I am an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Davis, and direct the UC Davis AI Ethics Lab. I earned my Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, where I was advised by Professor Valerie Tiberius.

My research lies at the intersection of normative ethics, the philosophy of well-being, moral psychology, and comparative philosophy. I am particularly interested in questions about what makes a life go well, how social structures shape human flourishing—especially our emotional lives—and how early Chinese and Western philosophical traditions can illuminate one another on these questions. Extending these questions to emerging technologies, my work in AI ethics examines how AI reshapes the social and emotional conditions under which human flourishing becomes possible. Current projects explore griefbots, interesting experiences with AI companions, and affective AI in healthcare.