PhD-ing
@UofIllinois
@iSchoolUI
| Research tech ethics, accessibility, and education | Spread love, respect, and reciprocity in academia | Alumnus
@WHU_1893
📢 Hello, I’m on the academic job market this year, looking for faculty positions in information science (iSchools) and postdoc positions in any school (CS, law, etc.). My research is about three main topics: computer accessibility, AI ethics and policy, and computing education,
🎈My 2023 PhD achievements:
- I had 18 more papers and 114 more citations on Google Scholar 📃
- I attended HICSS, IDC, SOUPS, USENIX, and CSCW in person 🌊
- I gave 4 invited talks 🎤
- My research was featured by AI Ethics Brief and I was interviewed by MIT Technology Review 📷
My achievement post received unexpected attention. Overwhelming attacks occurred. I'll explain the number of papers (cumulative across 3.5 years) and hardship I experienced as an independent researcher and a verbal abuse victim — that’s why I’m happy with my achievements. (1/N)
My personal take on what constitutes good advisors:
(1) Students don't need to constantly prove themselves by meeting your expectations. PhD is their own.
(2) Students don't need to compete with their labmates for attention, support, resources, authorship, etc.
(3) Students'
🎁Many people to thank in 2023, really. My PhD journey started low in late 2020. I did not receive any support for my own research ideas and was not treated respectfully by senior collaborators. I had severe depression for a long time. Then came the turning points... (1/N)
Thrilled to share that I passed my field/qualifying exam! After taking 20 courses, I’m officially a PhD candidate now! Big shout out to my marvelous committee:
@MrsMRS_PhD
,
@Ted_Underwood
, and Jessie Chin!🎉
Equally thrilled to share one of my CHI papers got rejected!🎉
#CHI2024
It’s PhD application season now. Some tips that I learned hard for several years:
- Find a supportive advisor. Most important thing.
- Build your research agenda. Find your passion and stick to it.
- Collaborate and connect with people from Day 1. Doing a PhD is lonely.
#PhD
Now PhD students
@iSchoolUI
only need to take 16 courses instead of 20 without a master’s degree. This is one of my proudest “HCI projects” — identifying problem, surveying/interviewing students, analyzing data, and proposing policy recommendations to our fantastic doctoral study
I was so soothed by people’s kind words (couldn’t even reply all)❤️I spent one hour following back everyone with a bio. Happy to see what you build/research in 2024! If you actively posts but my search engine missed you, please DM me with random gibberish and I know what to do😀
🎉Many good news and achievements this week!
- Accepted to doctoral colloquium at FAccT
- Got an R&R at CSCW
@rachelfadler
- Submitted a paper to ASSETS
@rachelfadler
- Picked up CrossFit and basketball again
- (Most proud one) Baked first-ever cake for my wife’s birthday 🎂
Huge congrats to those who got good news from CHI. As someone who have 0 paper in CHI, I know how hard it is to get in. You should celebrate with the highest level of excitement🫡 For frustrated people like myself, many other conferences are around the corner😏
#chi2024
I fully disagree with this statement. People in science and engineering should really learn what power dynamics is.
What is a “toxic” student? I won’t assign this word to any student I’ve seen. What is a “toxic” advisor? Verbal abuse, setting overly high expectations of
🔉This summer, I will teach an undergraduate-level HCI course
@iSchoolUI
. This is my first time teaching — really excited and nervous! If you’d like to give (online) guest lectures in fields like HCI, usable security, and human-centered AI, please comment or DM me🫡
Great news, fellow AI ethics researchers. The
@AIESConf
website is online, though the CFP is not ready yet. It'll be held somewhere in California this summer!
@sidgairo18
Siddhartha, legit question! My PhD journey started low without much support from my former advisor. I had to build my own research agenda and find collaborators... The good side is more papers. I also published papers not allowed to do after changing advisor. So it's cumulative.
Are LLMs or Google Search more trustable?
@AbhinavChoudhr2
will present our
@rachelfadler
ongoing research on LLM credibility in search contexts at Human-LLM Interaction Workshop!
#HRI2024
We identified 9 privacy harms and 9 privacy risks in users’ interactions with conversational AI like ChatGPT and BlenderBot.
In response, we proposed design recommendations: (1) implement Privacy by Design principles, (2) avoid dark patterns, and (3) inclusive privacy for
Thanks for those who gave warm comments. Now I just want people to learn about my hardship experiences and gain some hope, instead of being intimidated by the number of papers. (N/N)
I don't agree with the elitism-based rating of academic venues. People I met in many "mediocre or irrelevant" venues were amazing. But I agree, I don't have first-authored, full papers at CHI/CSCW. Does that mean I can't be proud of my achievements? (5/N)
#CHI2024
Dear folks, don't let the following reviews affect you:
- You’re only doing interviews? Please add a survey.
- You didn’t engage with literature in the following three fields (which are not relevant at all).
- Contribution is limited because it's not conducted in the US.
This year, I have a different goal. Instead of idea-driven research, I'll gain more research skills in survey analysis, diary study, prototyping, mobile dev, LLM fine-tuning, and institutional analysis. I'm fortunate to have hands-on tutors in my projects to teach me each skill!
🏆We received Recognition for Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion at
#CSCW2023
!
Can older adults evolve from lurkers on online social platforms to active contributors? Yes they can, especially with the help of decentralized recommendation and other algorithmic designs.
👇
Glad to know our CSCW paper received Recognition for Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion! The paper shows how design of algorithmic systems could affect participation equity through a case of older adults on short video platforms!
I endured 3 years of severe depression. I suffered from insomnia for a long time. At some point, I played video games for 8 or 10 hours a day, since I saw no point in research, and life. (8/N)
I'm happy with the outcome of my independent research. I'm also proud of keeping working and trying in depression. Yesterday, I sent a virtual gift to a game live streamer I followed since then, "Thank you for being there. Watching you play makes me calm and hopeful." (9/N)
On the way to California! My dog and I are looking forward to meeting interesting people at
@SOUPSConference
and
@USENIXSecurity
, and the beach! I will present my research papers at 11am, Tuesday and 9am, Thursday, PDT.
#usesec23
#soups2023
I also want to thank my wife, friends, collaborators, and advisors again. I'm doing better mentally and following your suit to become a better researcher, and more importantly, a better person (10/N).
A bit more thought about Asian name (in)visibility in US academia and implicit discrimination. Zhixuan is my born name; Kyrie is the name I gave myself as a tribute to
@KyrieIrving
in high school. I equally identify with these two names and used them interchangeably for years.
I was harassed by a senior researcher early in my PhD career. In their words, "I only work with Chinese students or students with a Chinese advisor since they are obedient. If I criticize them, they'll work harder". I'll probably never disclose their name publicly, but... (7/N)
📣With
@IanArawjo
@Ted_Underwood
we are studying the “Rise of Preprint Culture in Computing.” We are interested in understanding computing (AI, HCI, etc.) researchers’ practices and perceptions regarding preprints (arXiv, ResearchGate, etc.). You are invited to participate in an
🚨Preprint Alert🚨
In our new preprint, we leverage hands-on tutorials to equip AI creators with awareness and knowledge of *gender bias*, which is often an overlooked topic in CS/AI courses.
Paper:
(1/n)
My research interests diverged from my former advisor, so I did mostly independent research in my first three years. It's so harsh to expect a junior researcher to publish in CHI/CSCW by doing independent research, I think. (6/N)
At Research Showcase
@iSchoolUI
, I presented my research on AI gender bias education.
@thesmitdesai
presented his research on conversational agents and metaphors.
@Tanusree_Sharma
presented her research on decentralized AI and DAO. They’re seeking faculty positions. Hire them!
Today we
@rachelfadler
taught high school kids about computer accessibility through games. A whole day of classes is exhausting, but I feel so happy to promote digital accessibility among people from a young age!
#a11y
I had a wonderful discussion with
@ZeyiYang
on my research about anonymous feminist communities in China and Internet censorship. Anonymity online is dead after the forced disclosure of IP address and even real name. See Zeyi’s wonderful article⬇️
A paper coauthored by
#iSchoolUI
PhD student Zhixuan (Kyrie) Zhou and Mengyi Wei, a PhD student at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, received the Best Paper Award at the 56th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. 🌺:
Though I can’t travel to Brazil due to visa issues, I’m excited to virtually attend the doctoral colloquium tomorrow to meet mentors and peers!
#FAccT2024
I thought only followers would see the post, so I did not include contextual information. People who have followed me for a while know the hardships and that I had *zero* papers in the first two years of my PhD journey. The 18 papers were cumulated through 3.5 years. (2/N)
Two works accepted to
@TPRCtweets
! One about contextual differential privacy with
@MrsMRS_PhD
, and one about NFT community governance led by
@baycresearcher
, a brilliant high school student I mentored. I'll share more details as we prepare the final papers. Excited to meet tech
The popularity of HCI conferences, ranked by the number of followers that I follow :)
1. CHI 509
2. CSCW 412
3. UIST 259
4. MobileHCI 182
5. IUI 153
6. CHI Play 122
7. TEI 102
8. ISS 97
9. GROUP 72
10. SOUPS 70
11. ASSETS 67
🚨Preprint Alert🚨
In our new preprint
@MrsMRS_PhD
@GLOSSatIllinois
, we qualitatively analyze and compare social media discussions about *gender bias* in two LLMs, one in the US (ChatGPT), and one in China (Ernie).
Paper:
(1/n)
📑Excited to share that I will present a poster at
#CSCW2023
.
We approached mom vloggers to understand their motivations and challenges.
It's a collaborative effort with
@XinTong1111
, Bohui Shen, Franziska Zimmer, and Chuanli Xia.
Preprint:
We are researchers from UIUC
@rachelfadler
, conducting a research study to learn about software challenges faced by people with motor/manual dexterity impairments. Join our 45-minute interview for a $10 gift card. Please fill in the screening survey below if you're interested.
Last night, someone put my achievement post on a Chinese social media platform anonymously, *inviting* criticism and attacks. People said I should not "brag" since I have not published in top-tier conferences like CHI and CSCW. Yes, that's a fact. (3/N)
Proud to share we
@AbhinavChoudhr2
@rachelfadler
won an Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue Research Award. The project is titled "Gamified Finance Simulator for Older Adults: A Financial Literacy and Vulnerability Intervention.'' Excited to be a co-PI for the first time
Echoing my experience several years ago, many PhD applicants told me some information science or computer science departments have pretty messy application pages. Unclear website structure, missing information, inconsistent instructions... I guess more HCI faculty is needed🙂
I met
@Mollywei12
in early 2022, working on "AI ethics incident cataloging" together. We were two new PhD students without independent research experience. Our advisor/labmate did not see value in the research and suggested us quit. Later it got a best paper award at HICSS! (2/N)
We're researchers from UIUC, Duke Kunshan University, and UC Berkeley. We build a web-based program to educate people on how AI gender bias is introduced and can be mitigated. Please fill in the survey if interested in this 1-hour study and getting $15!
Of my 7 first-authored papers in 2023, there were a SOUPS paper (mediocre venue in their eyes), a CSCW poster ("just an extended abstract"), an HCI International poster (irrelevant venue maybe), and two arXiv preprints (trash maybe). (4/N)
Information/CS researchers should study parking in this country. It explains my lateness 80% of the time. Trying to find a vacant meter anywhere is a bloody nightmare…
In this newly baked
#CSCW2024
paper, we
@xia87186
@XinTong1111
@sunshineluyao
leveraged social media mining and interviews to inspect the decentralization-induced regulation pitfalls in NFT. We further discuss the possibility of centralized intervention and community governance.
Decentralization is the core concept of blockchain and NFT. We hope to better analyze the advantages and disadvantages of centralization and decentralization from a user's perspective and needs. Our paper has been accepted by
#CSCW2024
.
I recently had this name crisis. My Chinese name, Zhi-Xuan, is not at all pronounceable for any non-Chinese person. I’m now completely shifting to Kyrie, including in publications🏀
At the same time, I acknowledged that the invisibility of Chinese/Indian/... names in the US academia is a form of discrimination. If you don't have an English name yet, you don't necessarily need one simply to boost your visibility. Just be active on Twitter maybe.
Great news, fellow AI ethics researchers. The
@AIESConf
website is online, though the CFP is not ready yet. It'll be held somewhere in California this summer!
✏️We're researchers from UIUC
@MrsMRS_PhD
, conducting a survey on contextual *differential privacy* choices. Don't be intimidated by the term; the questions are simple and take less than 10 minutes! Please fill it out or share it with colleagues/friends!
Most recent update: AIES will be held in Oct, California.
#FAccT
authors can resubmit their papers to AIES if rejected. That’s why I’m tracking AIES all the time😂
I met
@XinTong1111
in late 2022, working on "AI gender bias education" together. For the first time in my PhD journey, my research interest was seen and supported by a professor. She wrote pages of helpful comments for my papers and included me in multiple projects! (3/N)
Excited to attend the hybrid IDC workshop on “designing AI interfaces for children with special needs (e.g., autism) in educations contexts” in Chicago. LLM was unsurprisingly repeatedly mentioned:) It seems promising in this regard, but it can contain social stigma!
#IDC2023
With
@rachelfadler
we're conducting a research study examining best practices for software design for cancer survivors. If you are a cancer survivor who has experienced challenges (such as chemo brain), please take this survey and you will be compensated with a $10 gift card:
Xin provided me with much-needed support and guidance on research as early as 2022. With Xin and my current advisors, I got to pursue my passion and shape my research agenda. If you are looking for a smart and supportive advisor, don’t miss this opportunity to chat with her at
Glad to share that I will be joining HKUST GZ in July this year, and I am looking for PhD students to work on HCI, AI, Accessibility, and culture heritage related research. Please feel free to have a chat with me if you are interested and also attending CHI now! 😎😎😎🌴🌴🌴
A collection of food that most people who are not Chinese don’t eat: duck neck/foot/gizzard/tongue, lotus root and bean curd. Let me know if you’re not Chinese and have tried them all🫡
ChatGPT and many other LLMs present responses as they are being generated. The screen is scrolling all the time, making me dizzy. Am I the only one who dislikes this feature and prefers a still response after 10 seconds of generation?
iSchool folks, see you in Calgary! Our paper "Accessible Adventures: Teaching Accessibility to High School Students Through Games" has been accepted for the 2024 ASIS&T Conference!
@rachelfadler
@DevorahKletenik
I'm also a panelist on a dream-team panel organized by
@EceGumusel
,
In mid-2023, I had my new amazing advisors
@MrsMRS_PhD
and
@Ted_Underwood
. Through a fellowship application (which did not succeed in the end), they helped me establish my research agenda around ICT/AI ethics and vulnerable populations -- what I wanted to do from Day 1! (4/N)
I'll present "Iterative Design of An Accessible Crypto Wallet for Blind Users" at
#soups2023
with
@Tanusree_Sharma
. We reveal accessibility barriers of crypto wallets and present our accessible redesigns. Work done with
@scyrusk
, Luke Emano, and Yang Wang.
@langaopigeon
Yes, your analysis is not critical enough; you’re only doing interviews? you didn’t engage with literature in three fields; grammar errors are here and there; the research contribution is very limited; someone else has done it, though using a completely different technique.
Has anyone asked ChatGPT healthcare or medical questions? We're
@KaiShu0327
seeking participants for a 45-minute interview with $20 compensation. DM or email
@xia87186
(yxiao28
@hawk
.iit.edu) if you're interested!
Chinese people are literally locked/welded up in their apartments. The miserable government wants a nice covid stat and extreme control over people. What if fires and earthquakes happen? 10 people in Xinjiang died in fire since they were locked in the building! R.I.P.
#Xinjiang
Submitted a COVID related paper to iConference. The first author was asked to withdraw the paper by their university in China, since it’s politically sensitive. Sad…
My biggest achievement as a doctoral student representative so far: credit hour reduction⬇️. Our doctoral program requires 20 full-load courses if students don’t have a master’s degree (crazy right?). Soon, we’ll only need to take 16 courses. More time for research!🫡
"New Florida law blocks Chinese students from academic labs: Top state education officials need to approve any proposed hires after extensive vetting." I guess many people already read this Science news, but what is Florida doing? It was my favorite state.
Today I want to take a break from sharing research to share a personal story instead. It’s a story about my name, why I once decided to quit academia, why I came back, what I learnt from it, and why I’m grateful to have an audience here on Twitter.