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The First Ateneo-NAIST Cross-Cultural Workshop on Perspectives in Social Computing Research

The First Ateneo-NAIST Cross-Cultural Workshop on Perspectives in Social Computing Research

CTC 413, Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights campus

13 Oct 2023 09:00 am - 13 Oct 2023 05:00 pm

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Language, Models & Social Computing

Language is social. It enables us to communicate with one another. Language is also cultural as there are intricacies in its evolution and use making some aspects unique to one culture. Language is universal. Online spaces provide limitless capability to use language in creating conversations that connect individuals to one another forming communities addressing a common goal. This one-day workshop is designed to discover and understand perspectives in Social Computing research from the Social Computing Science Laboratories of Ateneo de Manila University and the Nara Institute for Science and Technology thereby creating a collaborative space for current and future research. Discussion will include best practices in how social computing research attempts to understand universal, social, and cultural aspects of language in online narratives, conversations, and texts.

A special panel discussion on the future of social computing with large language models will be held gathering distinguished women in the field of Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence

Workshop Program

09:00 – 10:00	Coffee Connection and Chit-chats
10:00 – 10:20	Greeting Galore!
10:20 – 12:00	Meet Our Protégés – Paper Presentations
12:00 – 13:00	Midday Munchies
13:00 – 14:00	The Rise of LLMs: A Discussion with Leaders in the Field
14:00 – 16:00	Workshop Tango
16:00 – 17:00	Last Curtain Call & Synthesis

The Rise of LLMs: A Discussion with Leaders in the Field

With the Large Language Models (LLMs) being made more available to the general public, the excitement on its use has also spread across a variety of research fields including medicine, sociology or computer science. While researchers in various disciplines seem to be cautiously optimistic in implementing such models in their studies, some challenges await and should be thoroughly considered before we design our studies using LLMs. We examine key opportunities and challenges faced by social computing researchers in conducting social computational studies using LLMs with the goal of providing guidelines on utilization and implementation of LLMs in Social Computing Studies.

Gina Romero is a Filipino-British entrepreneur, community builder, and technology advocate. She is the Founder and Head of Special Projects at Connected Women, a socially responsible AI and digital task outsourcing community that aims to improve the lives of Filipino women through meaningful online work.

As part of her mission to better equip women entrepreneurs and professionals with the technology skills to scale their businesses and careers, Gina launched Connected Women in Singapore in 2013. In 2016 she set her heart on helping Filipino women and moved back to the Philippines where she co-founded Connected Women in the Philippines in 2017.

Connected Women has received global recognition in the categories of inclusive innovation, the future of work, e-employment and women’s empowerment. Gina is a proud recipient of the TOWNS award (The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) which recognizes outstanding dedication, exceptional talent, and a history of contributing positively to society.

Dr. Roxas is a member of the CHED Technical Panel for IT Education and the Chair of the CHED Technical Committee on Computer Science.

Dr. Roxas has a PhD in Computer Science from the Australian National University, and a second PhD, PhD in Education from the De La Salle University. She is currently a fellow of Ideacorp Philippines. She is a recent past President of the Computing Society of the Philippines, where she pioneered the Special Interest Group on Natural Language Processing, and also the Special Interest Group on Women in Computing. She has been serving on international committees such as the Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (or PACLIC), as past president of AsiaLex, to name a few.

Her research work has focused on Natural Language Processing, including NLP tasks for Philippine Languages. Her recent international recognitions include the following. Dr. Roxas has been recently selected as the 2022 ASEAN Women in Science, member state finalist representing the Philippines, in the senior scientist category. And in 2023, Dr. Roxas was named among the top 1,000 scientists in the Philippines by the AD Scientific Index 2023 based on her research outputs.

Erika serves as the Aboitiz Chair in Data Science and an Associate Professor at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), also spearheading its Master of Science in Data Science program, a leader in the region. She holds a pivotal position on the board of RCBC and was central to the formulation of the Philippine National Artificial Intelligence Roadmap.

Championing board leadership and corporate governance, Erika is a Fellow at the Institute of Corporate Directors (Philippines). Adding to her governance expertise, in 2023, she secured a Cyber Risk Governance^SM credential from the DCRO Risk Governance Institute, reinforcing her commitment to ensuring corporate resilience in the digital age.

In the realm of data strategy and digital transformation, Erika’s advisory extends to organizations collectively earning over 4.5 billion USD, showcasing the caliber of businesses she engages with.

Her academic prowess shines through her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, where she attained top distinctions (a perfect G.W.A. of 1.00/1.00). Her executive training is rounded out with programs from world-renowned institutions such as the Harvard Kennedy School and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Erika’s influence on the global stage is palpable. Not only was she featured in the Asian Scientist 100 list in 2023 and identified as one of Asia’s Rising Scientists in 2022, but she’s also part of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Class of 2022. Her research footprint encompasses over 20 peer-reviewed publications and 50+ conference presentations. Leadership accolades like TOWNS and T.O.Y.M. and her recognition in Asia Tatler’s Generation T Asia list in 2019 further amplify her stature.

Prior to her tenure at AIM, Erika bolstered her proficiency as a Scientist at Singapore’s A*STAR, undertaking diverse R&D initiatives.

Meet our Protégés

Lean Franzl Yao is currently a PhD student at the Social Computing Laboratory of NAIST. His work focuses on developing tools and illustrating the relevancy of both state-of-the-art and traditional NLP methods within the context of rare disease research. He studied Applied Mathematics majoring in Mathematical Finance for both his undergraduate and master’s degree and has experience with modeling and statistical analysis using financial, economic, education, health, medical, and biological data. Previously, he was an Instructor at the Ateneo de Manila University teaching courses on college algebra, calculus, statistics, mathematical finance, and operations research.

Zachary Pangan is a doctoral student majoring in Information Science at Nara Institute of Science and Technology. His current research interests are focused on the integration of social computing methodologies such as social network analysis and agent-based modeling on large language models and recommendation systems.

Roland P. Abao is currently a PhD Computer Science student at Ateneo de Manila University. His current research focuses on doing agent-based models, specifically modeling social contagion in informal environments. He studied Computer Engineering and Computer Applications for his undergraduate and master’s degree at MSU-IIT. He is also a faculty member at Caraga State University, on study leave.

Lance Calvin Gamboa is a data scientist with an extensive background in the social and learning sciences. He graduated with a degree in Master of Science in Data Science after working on a thesis that used natural language processing (NLP) methods to analyze gender bias in Filipino language models. Lance also has significant experience working in the Philippine public education sector, having served as an educator and policy analyst in the Department of Education. Presently, he is a lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University and a Senior Research Officer and Data Analyst in Philippine Normal University. He seeks to continue contributing to scholarship at the intersections of data science, social research, and education.

Jose Mari Luis Dela Cruz is currently pursuing his MS Computer Science degree at Ateneo de Manila University. He has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Data Science and Analytics. His current research focuses on using Machine Learning algorithms for text classification in Philippine Online News Articles. Also, a member of the Ateneo Social Computing Science Laboratory.