Jenna Russell
PhD Student at UMD ~ jennarus@umd.edu
Welcome! I’m Jenna, a third-year Computer Science PhD student at the University of Maryland, College Park, where I am advised by Professor Mohit Iyyer. Prior to UMD, I spent a semester as a PhD student at University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I was also advised by Professor Iyyer.
My research examines AI’s growing influence on human writing and ideas. I study how AI usage can be detected and characterized, and what signals of human judgment and originality persist as AI-generated text becomes harder to distinguish from human text. This work informs broader questions of provenance, transparency, and creative ownership.
Prior to joining UMass, I was a data scientist for Bank of America, doing applied research for Erica Conversational AI. I completed my B.S. at Cornell University, majoring in Statistics and Information Science, and grew up in nearby Rochester, New York.
Outside of my PhD, I spend my time lifting, running, and reading. I usually read somewhere between 70-100 books a year. Check out my Goodreads! I also have a cat named Boo.
news
| Sep 07, 2026 | StoryScope will also be presented at TADA 2026, where it was selected for an oral presentation! |
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| Jul 08, 2026 | StoryScope has been accepted to COLM 2026! |
| Jun 29, 2026 | I’ll be at ACL 2026 in San Diego July 4-8. Come say hi if you’re there! |
| May 18, 2026 | Started my summer internship at Pangram in NYC! |
| May 17, 2026 | Our AI News paper was selected for an oral presentation at ACL 2026! |
| Apr 06, 2026 | Both Frankentext and AI News were accepted to the ACL Main Conference 2026. |
| Jul 27, 2025 | I will be attending ACL in Vienna 07/27 - 08/01 |
| Jul 08, 2025 | One Ruler has been accepted to COLM 2025! |
| May 15, 2025 | Human Detectors has been accepted to ACL Main 2025. |
| Jan 26, 2025 | I’ve published my first paper, People who frequently use ChatGPT for writing tasks are accurate and robust detectors of AI-generated text. |
| Jan 11, 2025 | We’ve moved to the CLIP Lab at UMD College Park. |
| Oct 06, 2024 | I’m attending COLM this week. |
| Sep 02, 2024 | I started my PhD at UMass Amherst! |
in the media
A Turning Point in AI Writing
Quoted on AI-written opinion pieces, disclosure, and how language models can narrow the range of ideas in writing.
AI Slop Melodramas Are Taking Over X—and Their Creators Are Cashing In
Quoted on the familiar tropes and engagement incentives behind viral AI-generated stories.
This Literary AI Scandal Changes Everything
Featured analysis of possible AI use in Commonwealth Short Story Prize–winning fiction.
How AI Is Creeping Into The New York Times
Coverage of our research on AI-generated writing in newspaper opinion pages.
selected publications
- ACL
2026Selected for oral presentation