U-RISE — Antigoni Parmaxi: From Classical Studies to New Age Human-Centred Educational Technology, Finding Human Connection Learning in the AI Age
By Fawzia “Fuzzy” Kara-Izitt
“Academia was never even part of the plan.”
It is not the answer many would expect from an academic working at the intersection of education, technology, inclusion, and human-computer interaction and involved in numerous research projects, publications, and international initiatives. Yet for Antigoni Parmaxi, honesty about uncertainty has become one of the defining themes of her journey.
Long before research projects, immersive learning environments, and international initiatives supporting women and youth in technology, Antigoni’s path began in a very different world: classical studies and philosophy.
As a young student in Cyprus, she had one dream: She simply wanted to teach. “I had no idea where life would eventually take me,” she reflects. “My younger self thought I would finish my studies, become a teacher, and quietly build a life doing something I loved.”
Technology was never the destination
Her early academic years focused on languages, philosophy, pedagogy, and intercultural education. After completing her studies, she began teaching languages across primary and secondary education before transitioning into tertiary education. It was there that, unexpectedly, another world slowly opened itself to her. Teaching at a university introduced her to both higher education and the growing role of technology in learning environments, an intersection that quickly captured her interest. What began as curiosity gradually evolved into fascination. Still, even then, she did not plan for an academic career. In fact, when encouraged to pursue a PhD, Antigoni initially resisted the idea.
“I created the folder on my computer and opened it again a year later,” she laughs.
The decision to continue a PhD came after many reluctant conversations with her supervisor and continuous encouragement from her mentors. What followed became a turning point in her life. “Two years into the PhD, I realised I loved technology and what it could offer to teaching and learning,” she says, acknowledging the support and encouragement of her colleagues, the director of the Language Centre, and the team at the Cyprus Interaction Lab throughout her journey.
That discovery led her toward human-computer interaction, educational technology, immersive learning, and research, focused on how technology could meaningfully support people. For Antigoni, technology has never been about replacing people, but supporting them more meaningfully.
“Technology has to have humanity at its heart,” she emphasises, “otherwise it is not truly serving us.”
Throughout her work, one principle quietly connects everything she does: technology should serve people, not distance us from one another. Her perspective feels especially important in today’s AI-driven world, where conversations around automation and efficiency often move faster than discussions around empathy, ethics, and belonging. The future of technology cannot simply be about building faster systems or more intelligent tools. It must also leave space for wellbeing, accessibility, and meaningful human connection.
“I think humanities need a bit more technology, and technologists need a bit more humanities,” she says thoughtfully.
Belonging, Inclusion, and Women in Technology
This philosophy became especially visible during one of the most meaningful teaching experiences of her career. Early in her university teaching years, Antigoni worked with a small group of nursing students from Kenya and Uganda who had arrived in Cyprus to study in Greek. Within a short period of time, they had to learn the language well enough to study complex nursing material while simultaneously adapting to a completely unfamiliar social and cultural environment. The difficulties extended beyond language as the students also faced prejudice, isolation, and the emotional realities of trying to belong in a new country while navigating cultural bias and exclusion. For Antigoni, teaching them became about far more than grammar or vocabulary; it was about helping students feel they belonged. Speaking about them even now still visibly moves her.
“We went through many challenges together,” she says as her eyes welled up, “I still call them my first children.”
That experience shaped not only her teaching philosophy but also her wider understanding of social inclusion and the responsibility educators carry when working with people from diverse backgrounds.
Over the years, Antigoni’s work has increasingly expanded beyond classrooms and research labs into wider initiatives supporting women and youth in computing and technology. Through mentoring and starting the ACM Women Cyprus chapter, she has helped create supportive communities for women navigating fields that can still feel isolating or inaccessible. She recognises that the challenge for many women is not simply acquiring technical knowledge. There are many challenges that undermine confidence and visibility, and a lack of acknowledgement. There are obstacles and burdens carried silently every day.
“Women often feel they need to change themselves to fit into technology,” she explains. “But what technology actually needs is more of the perspectives and lived experiences they already bring.” Rather than seeing those backgrounds as weaknesses, Antigoni sees them as essential in helping technology remain connected to real human needs and societal challenges.
She believes women from non-technical or humanities backgrounds often underestimate the value they contribute to emerging technological spaces, particularly in areas such as AI, education, ethics, inclusion, and human-computer interaction. Rather than seeing those backgrounds as weaknesses, Antigoni sees them as essential. “We need more people, especially women, who think beyond technology alone and bring human concerns and societal values into these spaces.”
At the same time, she speaks candidly about the realities many women still face in academia and professional life, including gender bias and the so-called “motherhood penalty.”
Returning to work after her maternity leave, she recalls feeling as though everyone else had continued running while she was simply trying to find her footing again. “It felt like I had to run a speed marathon immediately from the moment I walked in on the first day,” she says.
Yet even while acknowledging these challenges, Antigoni’s message remains deeply hopeful. Fear, she says, never fully disappears. Even now, after years of teaching and research, she still occasionally feels anxious before entering a classroom. But fear itself is not the problem. The problem is allowing it to stop you. “It’s fine to be afraid,” she says gently. “Just don’t let fear keep you behind from where you want to be.”
Redefining Success
For Antigoni, success has also evolved over time. It is no longer measured only through publications, projects, or professional milestones. Some days, success means completing a paper submission. Other days, it means simply putting her children to bed after a long day balancing motherhood, teaching, mentoring, and research.
“Success is about feeling full inside,” she reflects thoughtfully, in a way that beautifully captures the humanity running through both her work and her life.
That balance between ambition and humanity quietly defines much of her journey. Despite her achievements in research, educational innovation, and technology, what matters most to her remains remarkably simple. When asked what she hopes students remember about her years from now, her answer comes immediately: “I want them to remember that I cared about them.”
In an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and rapid technological change, her work reminds us that progress without consideration of our humanity risks becoming empty. The future of technology belongs to all of us: coders, engineers, but also educators, philosophers, linguists, enthusiasts of classical studies, artists, caregivers, and anyone willing to bring empathy and human understanding into technological spaces.
Her favourite quote is: “Reward success, celebrate failure, and punish inaction,” by Robert Sutton on ‘Innovative organizations’. During her PhD years, after multiple paper rejections, her supervisor repeated this quote, and it stuck with her ever since. He taught her that submitting a paper is a success because of the courageous attempt to share one’s work, rejection should be a celebration because of the lessons learnt from it, and when the paper is accepted, of course she would celebrate more, and finally, what she shouldn’t do is to just put those papers in a drawer and give up, because that would be punishing herself by not fulfilling her potential..
If she could speak to her younger self, the young woman who once stressed about entrance exams and applications, and convinced her career path was already fixed, her advice would now be beautifully simple:
“Stress less.”
Because sometimes the most meaningful journeys are the ones we never planned.
Yet again, I am leaving a U-RISE conversation, reminded that the people making the greatest impact in technology are often those who remain deeply human. Besides being an accomplished HCI researcher and internationally recognised academic, Antigoni is a woman whose warmth, honesty, and compassion is just as striking as her achievements.
Keep walking your unconventional path, even when it changes direction unexpectedly. Trust the curiosity that pulls you forward, the people who encourage you, and the humanity you bring with you along the way. Every U-RISE begins not with having all the answers, but with the courage to face your fears, to care, to connect, and to keep learning as the world evolves around you.
To learn more about Dr Antigoni Parmaxi, her research projects, publications and other achievements: https://antigoniparmaxi.weebly.com/