RESEARCH

In her research, Aoki’s current primary interest is investigating the societal implications of digital transformation and the use of artificial intelligence in the public sector. For example, she recently co-authored a paper on explainable AI for government, which was published in Government Information Quarterly. The study investigated whether the type of explanation given matters to the accuracy, fairness, and trustworthiness of an adverse algorithmic decision as perceived by those who are affected.

In parallel, from time to time over the past decade, Aoki has conducted research on various issues related to public management that have struck her as important. For instance, when she moved from Singapore to Japan in 2022, she found that organizational silos that had emerged in an effort to tackle the pandemic were hindering cross-organizational collaboration in Japanese government. She began research on this issue, and co-authored a systematic literature review, published in Public Administration, on two approaches for addressing the problem: whole-of-government and joined-up government. 

Methodologically, many of her works incorporate psychological theories into her research and uses experimental methods; hence, they fall into the category of behavioral public administration.

Her publications since 2015 have appeared in the following journals:

• The American Review of Public Administration
• The Asian Journal of Political Science
• Cities
• Computers in Human Behavior
• Government Information Quarterly
• Habitat International
• The International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
• The International Journal of Public Administration
• The International Journal of Public Sector Management
• The International Review of Administrative Sciences
• Journal of Behavioral Public Administration
• Local Government Studies
• Public Administration
• Public Administration and Development
• Public Management Review
• Risk Analysis