UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ana-Andreea Stoica, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University, will deliver a talk as part of the Young Achievers Symposium organized by the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence. Stoica's talk, “Diversity and Inequality in Social Networks,” will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8, via Zoom, and will be followed by a question-and-answer session. 

About the talk: “Diversity and Inequality in Social Networks”

Online social networks often mirror inequality in real-world networks, from historical prejudice, economic or social factors. Such disparities are often picked up and amplified by algorithms that leverage social data for the purpose of providing recommendations, diffusing information, or forming groups. In this talk, Stoica discusses an overview of their research involving explanations for algorithmic bias in social networks, briefly describing the work in information diffusion, grouping, and general definitions of inequality. Using network models that reproduce inequality seen in online networks, Stoica will characterize the relationship between pre-existing bias and algorithms in creating inequality, discussing different algorithmic solutions for mitigating bias.

About the Speaker

Ana-Andreea Stoica is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University. Her work focuses on mathematical models, data analysis, and inequality in social networks. From recommendation algorithms to the way information spreads in networks, Stoica is particularly interested in studying the effect of algorithms on people's sense of community and access to information and opportunities. She strives to integrate tools from mathematical models — from graph theory to opinion dynamics — with sociology to gain a deeper understanding of the ethics and implications of technology in our everyday lives. Stoica grew up in Bucharest, Romania, and moved to the U.S. for college, where she graduated from Princeton in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Since 2019, she has been co-organizing the Mechanism Design for Social Good initiative.

About the Young Achievers Symposium

The Young Achievers Symposium, which will be held virtually throughout the spring, highlights early career researchers in diverse fields of AI for social impact and seeks to focus on emerging research, stimulate discussions, and initiate collaborations that can advance research in artificial intelligence for societal benefit.  

All events in the series are free and open to the public. Penn State students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty with an interest in socially responsible AI applications are encouraged to attend. You can view the full symposium series schedule and watch recordings of past events on the CSRAI website. 

The series is organized by CSRAI Program Chair Amulya Yadav, PNC Career Development Assistant Professor in the College of Information Science and Technology. All the talks will be hosted by Hangzhi Guo, a second-year doctoral student in the College of IST.