November 21, 2017: Invited Speaker Seminar: The Current State of Online Social Networking for the Health Community: Where Trust Modeling Research may be of Value

Dr. Robin Cohen
University of Waterloo

Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 9:30 am
Room EV011.119

Abstract

In this talk, I will discuss the prevalence of misleading information in health-oriented online social networks and discussion boards. With increasing numbers of patients and caregivers browsing online for insights into how to address their specific health problems, and with a growing tendency to value the opinions of peers when making choices about healthcare solutions, it is important for computer science researchers to develop strategies that can be introduced to enable each person to be better informed.

I will begin with a brief report on some of the activities currently observed in online communities. I will advocate the use of trust modeling, an approach examined by artificial intelligence researchers in the subfield of multi-agent systems. I will sketch some specific solutions to integrate, based on frameworks that we have developed which have been validated as effective in presenting beneficial messages to users.

I will conclude with a view to the future, both with respect to refinement of our trust modeling solutions, and with respect to engagement of government, healthcare providers and individuals.

This is joint work with Daniel Ohashi and Xiaotian Fu.

Biography

Dr. Robin Cohen, BA (McGill), MSc, PhD (Toronto), is a professor of Computer Science at University of Waterloo and AAAI Senior Member (2014). She was Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo (2011-2013), and David R. Cheriton Faculty Fellow, University of Waterloo (2010-2013).

Dr. Cohen conducts research in the artificial intelligence subfields of multi-agent systems, user modeling and intelligent interaction. Most recently the focus of her research has been on modeling trust in multi-agent systems, with connections to social networking and to applications of electronic commerce. She has also been exploring trust modeling for the application of transportation (in mobile vehicular ad-hoc networks) and in the context of peer-based intelligent tutoring systems.