Seminar • Cryptography, Security, and Privacy (CrySP) • Securing AI Systems Against Real-World Misuse

Thursday, February 26, 2026 10:30 am - 11:30 am EST (GMT -05:00)

Please note: This seminar will take place online.

Xinyue Shen, PhD candidate
CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security

AI systems like ChatGPT have advanced rapidly, yet their misuse has escalated in parallel. However, we still lack a systematic understanding of how AI systems are misused in the real world and why existing defenses repeatedly fail. This gap results in incomplete or misaligned safeguards, leaving individuals and society vulnerable. In this talk, I will share insights into the misuse of real-world AI systems, which involves understanding user-driven misuse in real-world AI systems, proactively detecting and mitigating AI system misuse, and identifying emerging security risks in the broader AI ecosystem.


Bio: Xinyue Shen is a PhD candidate at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, advised by Michael Backes and Yang Zhang. Her research interests lie in Trustworthy AI, with a focus on the security, safety, and responsibility of generative AI systems.

She publishes at top venues like IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, ACM CCS, ACL, EMNLP, and ICWSM. She is also named KAUST Rising Star in AI 2025, Machine Learning and Systems Rising Star 2025, and a recipient of the Best Machine Learning and Security Paper in Cybersecurity Award.


Attend this seminar virtually on Zoom.