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Events for March 29, 2023
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CS Colloquium: Paul Gölz (Harvard) - Fair, Representative, and Transparent Algorithms for Citizens’ Assemblies
Wed, Mar 29, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Paul Gölz, Harvard
Talk Title: Fair, Representative, and Transparent Algorithms for Citizens' Assemblies
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Globally, an alternative approach to democracy is gaining momentum: citizens' assemblies, in which randomly selected constituents discuss policy questions and propose solutions. Domain experts have two conflicting requirements on the selection of these assemblies: (1) assemblies should reflect the demographics of the population, and (2) all constituents should have equal chances of being selected. In this talk, I will describe work on designing and analyzing randomized selection algorithms that favorably trade off these objectives. I will share experiences with deploying these algorithms on our online platform Panelot and discuss what we learned from practitioners in the process of adoption. Finally, I will explore how these lessons sparked work on other aspects of citizens' assemblies, such as making the random selection process transparent and managing the discussions within the assembly.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Paul Gölz is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University under the supervision of Ariel Procaccia. Paul studies democratic decision-making and the fair allocation of resources, using tools from algorithms, optimization, and artificial intelligence. Algorithms developed in his work are now deployed to select citizens' assemblies around the world and to allocate refugees for a major US resettlement agency.
Host: David Kempe
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 109
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Computer Science General Faculty Meeting
Wed, Mar 29, 2023 @ 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Receptions & Special Events
Bi-Weekly regular faculty meeting for invited full-time Computer Science faculty only. Event details emailed directly to attendees.
Location: Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (MCB) - 101- Hybrid
Audiences: Invited Faculty Only
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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CS Colloquium: Emilio Ferrara (USC) - AI & Social Manipulation
Wed, Mar 29, 2023 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Emilio Ferrara, USC Annenberg / CS
Talk Title: AI & Social Manipulation
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: In this talk, I will overview my decadelong journey into understanding the implications of online platform manipulation. I'll start from detecting malicious bots and other forms of manipulation including troll accounts, coordinated campaigns, and disinformation operations. The impact of my work will be corroborated with examples of findings enabled by our technology, e.g., our unveiling of the "Russian bots" operation prior to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, which informed official Senate investigations and new regulations. I will then illustrate similar issues with the 2020 U.S. Election, as well as COVID-related conspiracies and public health misinformation. I'll conclude by discussing the ML tools we developed to model online mis/disinformation, reveal the malicious adversaries behind the curtains, and characterize their activity, behavior, and strategies, suggesting how they are changing the way researchers and study online platforms in the era of automation and artificial intelligence.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Emilio Ferrara is a professor of communication and computer science at USC Annenberg and at the USC Viterbi Department of Computer Science, professor (by courtesy) of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School, and co-director of the Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MINDS) group at USC ISI. His research focus has been at the intersection between developing theory and methods in network science, machine learning and NLP, and applying them to study socio-technical systems and networks. He is concerned with understanding the implications of AI and networks on human behavior, and their effects on society at large. Ferrara has published 230+ articles that have appeared on venues like the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, Communications of the ACM, Physical Review Letters, and the top ACM, IEEE and AAAI conferences and journals. As a PI at USC, he has received $20M+ in research funding from DARPA, IARPA, NSF, NIH, AFOSR and ONR. Ferrara received accolades including the 2016 DARPA Young Faculty Award and DARPA Director's Fellowship, the 2016 Complex Systems Society Junior Scientific Award, the 2019 USC Viterbi Research Award and the 2022 Research.com Rising Stars award. Until He also served as associate director of the USC Data Science programs.
Host: CS Department
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
