Research News

AI lab for low-resource communities earns 2023 Engagement and Scholarship Award

AI lab for low-resource communities earns 2023 Engagement and Scholarship Award

The RAISE Lab in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, which focuses on leveraging artificial intelligence to imagine a brighter future for low-resource communities around the globe, has received the 2023 Penn State Award for Community Engagement and Scholarship.

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Artificial intelligence models aim to forecast eviction, promote renter rights

Artificial intelligence models aim to forecast eviction, promote renter rights

Two artificial intelligence-driven models designed by researchers from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology could help promote the rights of low-income renters in the United States when facing forced eviction.

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Center now offering social responsibility consultations for AI researchers

Center now offering social responsibility consultations for AI researchers

Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence is now offering social responsibility consultations to University researchers engaged in AI-related research. 

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College of IST awards seed grants to 8 projects

College of IST awards seed grants to 8 projects

The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology recently announced eight projects that will receive funding from the college’s seed grant program.

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Center issues seed grant call for 'Big Ideas' in socially responsible AI

Center issues seed grant call for 'Big Ideas' in socially responsible AI

Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence is inviting short proposals for a special off-cycle round of "Big Idea Grant" seed funding earmarked for early concepts and research that has transformational potential.

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Beyond memorization: Text generators may plagiarize beyond 'copy and paste'

Beyond memorization: Text generators may plagiarize beyond 'copy and paste'

Language models, possibly including ChatGPT, paraphrase and reuse ideas from training data without citing the source, raising plagiarism concerns, according to a Penn State-led research team that conducted the first study to directly examine the phenomenon.

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Information Sciences and Technology faculty, staff recognized with annual awards

Information Sciences and Technology faculty, staff recognized with annual awards

Faculty and staff in the College of Information Sciences and Technology were recognized at the college’s annual awards event this week. Recipients were nominated by their IST colleagues and selected by a review committee for their excellence in teaching, research and service.

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New AI tool helps provide better care to pregnant women in Kenya

New AI tool helps provide better care to pregnant women in Kenya

A new AI-based tool developed by a team of researchers from Penn State and Jacaranda Health has been shown to improve health outcomes for new and expectant mothers in Kenya by providing better and more immediate access to maternal health care services.

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Center for Socially Responsible AI awards seed funding to 6 projects

The Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence recently announced the results of its third seed funding competition. The center awarded $145,000 to advance six interdisciplinary research projects that feature researchers from eight colleges and institutes.

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Researchers propose methods for automatic detection of doxing

Researchers propose methods for automatic detection of doxing

A new automated approach to detect doxing — a form of cyberbullying in which certain private or personally identifiable information is publicly shared without an individual's consent or knowledge — may help social media platforms better protect their users, according to researchers from Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology

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Novel 3D imaging model may show path to more water-efficient plants

Novel 3D imaging model may show path to more water-efficient plants

A new computational pipeline for analyzing three-dimensional imaging data can help biologists more accurately and quickly see how the cells in a plant’s leaves respond to the environment and identify plants that more efficiently use water, according to researchers.

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High-tech tool to perform low-cost health screening for newborns and mothers

High-tech tool to perform low-cost health screening for newborns and mothers

A new, $1.9 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering will allow Penn State researchers to develop artificial intelligence-based software that can evaluate the health of a newborn and their mother with only a photograph of the baby’s placenta. 

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Grant to explore using computers to help groups make better decisions

Grant to explore using computers to help groups make better decisions

National Science Foundation grants to Penn State and Iowa State could lead to an interactive, computer-aided, decision-support tool that can help groups of people make better choices.

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Researchers to use $1.2 million grant to study early Alzheimer’s detection

Researchers to use $1.2 million grant to study early Alzheimer’s detection

A team of Penn State-led researchers received a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help fund a project to develop a machine learning system for early Alzheimer’s disease detection.

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AI language models show bias against people with disabilities, study finds

AI language models show bias against people with disabilities, study finds

The algorithms that drive natural language processing technology — a type of artificial intelligence that allows machines to use text and spoken words in many different applications — often have tendencies that could be offensive or prejudiced toward individuals with disabilities, according to researchers at the Penn State College of Information

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Project aims to use artificial intelligence to turn health data into predictions

Project aims to use artificial intelligence to turn health data into predictions

A $599,883 grant from the National Science Foundation could help scientists use machine learning algorithms to use large amounts of data to guide decisions on a range of issues, from disease spread to economic meltdowns to social unrest.

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Center for Socially Responsible AI accepting seed funding proposals

Center for Socially Responsible AI accepting seed funding proposals

Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence is inviting short proposals for its annual seed funding program. Applications will be accepted through Nov. 1, with projects expected to start in spring 2023 and last for up to two years.

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Art history, IST receive grant to continue collaborative research project

Art history, IST receive grant to continue collaborative research project

The collaborative research project conducted by the Department of Art History and the College of Information Sciences and Technology, titled “After Constable’s Clouds,” is Phase 2 of “Seeing Constable’s Clouds,” which was supported by a level 1 National Endowment for the Humanities grant.

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College of IST professor earns fourth consecutive Amazon Research Award

College of IST professor earns fourth consecutive Amazon Research Award

James Wang, distinguished professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, has received an Amazon Research Award to advance his team's work on machine learning-based, emotion modeling that is geared toward enhancing the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) in day-to-day activities.

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Good, bad, fair: New algorithms could help fairly distribute goods or chores

Good, bad, fair: New algorithms could help fairly distribute goods or chores

When organizations need to divvy up indivisible items among multiple parties with different needs and preferences, how can they ensure that everyone gets their fair share?

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Real-time, accurate virus detection method could help fight next pandemic

Real-time, accurate virus detection method could help fight next pandemic

A method of highly accurate and sensitive virus identification using Raman spectroscopy, a portable virus capture device and machine learning could enable real-time virus detection and identification to help battle future pandemics, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State. 

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IST assistant professor Hadi Hosseini receives NSF CAREER award

IST assistant professor Hadi Hosseini receives NSF CAREER award

Hadi Hosseini, assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, is the recipient of a 2022 Faculty Early Career Development award from the National Science Foundation, which supports junior faculty members who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent teaching, and the inte

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IST academic search engine awarded ‘Best Open Source Project’ by BCS

IST academic search engine awarded ‘Best Open Source Project’ by BCS

CiteSeerX, one of the world’s earliest open source academic search engines and co-created by C.

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Using tweets to predict real-time food shortages

Using tweets to predict real-time food shortages

The sentiments and emotions expressed in tweets on Twitter can be used in real time to assess where supply chain disruptions due to a pandemic, war or natural disaster may lead to food shortages, according to researchers at Penn State and the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

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New model could have ‘Moneyball’-like impact on baseball players’ value

New model could have ‘Moneyball’-like impact on baseball players’ value

In the movie “Moneyball,” a young economics graduate and a cash-strapped Major League Baseball general manager introduce a new way to evaluate baseball players’ value.

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Scientists tap AI betting agents to help solve research reproducibility concerns

Scientists tap AI betting agents to help solve research reproducibility concerns

Scientists are increasingly concerned about that the lack of reproducibility in research may lead to, among other things, slower scientific output and less public trust in science.

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Science federation highlights Penn State proposal to combat diseases of despair

Science federation highlights Penn State proposal to combat diseases of despair

The Federation of American Scientists has chosen to highlight a proposal by Penn State researchers for the U.S.

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James Wang named distinguished professor of IST

James Wang named distinguished professor of IST

James Wang, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, has been conferred the title of distinguished professor, the highest professorial distinction at the University.

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Penn State awarded $3.4 million contract to target plastic waste

Penn State awarded $3.4 million contract to target plastic waste

Penn State has been awarded a $3.4 million contract from the REMADE Institute to fund research targeting the inefficient methods currently used to process and upcycle mixed plastic waste.

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Paper on geovisual analytics wins “Test of Time” award

Paper on geovisual analytics wins “Test of Time” award

A 2011 paper authored by Penn State researchers outlining a geovisual analytics approach to support geographically grounded situational awareness of crisis events using social media was selected to receive the 2021 IEEE Symposium on Visual Analytics Science and Technology Test of Time award.

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Search engine could help researchers scour internet for privacy documents

Search engine could help researchers scour internet for privacy documents

Researchers say a search engine, which uses an artificial intelligence called natural language processing, could be an important tool for researchers trying to find ways to design a safer internet.

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What was really the secret behind Van Gogh's success?

What was really the secret behind Van Gogh's success?

Before developing his famed “drip technique,” abstract artist Jackson Pollock dabbled in drawing, print making and surrealist paintings of humans, animals and nature.

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Vasant Honavar named Huck Chair in Biomedical Data Sciences and AI

Vasant Honavar, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, has been named the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Biomedical Data Sciences and Artificial Intelligence by the University’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

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New tool fuses expert knowledge and deep learning features to detect sleep apnea

New tool fuses expert knowledge and deep learning features to detect sleep apnea

Individuals who suspect they have sleep apnea — and the doctors who diagnose them — could soon have more effective way to automatically detect the condition at home, thanks to a new method developed by researchers at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology.

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Surprisingly popular voting algorithm developed to recover ranked choices

Surprisingly popular voting algorithm developed to recover ranked choices

Imagine you are asked to rank the counties in Pennsylvania in terms of number of COVID-19 infections. Or you may be asked to rank cities in Pennsylvania based on their populations.

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Block by block: Researchers use Minecraft to advance artificial intelligence

Block by block: Researchers use Minecraft to advance artificial intelligence

Researchers received a $900,000 grant to create artificial intelligence that can plan for and solve future problems. They will test the new software on the video game Minecraft.

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Honeypot security technique can also stop attacks in natural language processing

Honeypot security technique can also stop attacks in natural language processing

As online fake news detectors and spam filters become more sophisticated, so do attackers’ methods to trick them — including attacks through the “universal trigger.” In this learning-based method, an attacker uses a phrase or set of words to fool an indefinite number of inputs, which could lead to more fake news appearing in your social media fe

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Essential workers' tweets show surprising positivity during pandemic

Essential workers' tweets show surprising positivity during pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers tweeted less often than general users about COVID-19 but more about overall mental health issues, according to researchers at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology.

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Study of police language aims to find patterns that may lead to tragic outcomes

Study of police language aims to find patterns that may lead to tragic outcomes

With a new grant from the National Institutes of Health, an interdisciplinary team of researchers aims to examine police radio communications to observe what happens during adverse encounters between police officers and male minority youth and study any patterns of interaction that may lead to unfortunate or tragic outcomes.

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Two faculty members receive Amazon Research Awards

Penn State faculty members James Wang, professor of information sciences and technology, and Rui Zhang, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, each received a 2020 Amazon Research Award, which was announced publicly in April of this year.

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Virtual conference explores artificial intelligence in a post-COVID world

Virtual conference explores artificial intelligence in a post-COVID world

On May 13, the Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence hosted "AI in a Post-COVID World," a virtual conference that will brought together experts from a variety of disciplines to discuss how artificial intelligence has aided in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

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AI Hub to help enhance Penn State's global leadership in artificial intelligence

AI Hub to help enhance Penn State's global leadership in artificial intelligence

Penn State has launched an expanded initiative in Artificial Intelligence (AI), termed the AI Hub, which will bring together the University’s considerable resources and talent in AI to further advance its position as a global leader developing fundamental innovations in AI, in using AI and machine learning (ML) to solve the hardest challenges, a

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Penn State center to advance AI tools to accelerate scientific progress

Penn State center to advance AI tools to accelerate scientific progress

A new research center, the Center for Artificial Intelligence Foundations and Scientific Applications, or CENSAI, will unite Penn State researchers to explore the use of artificial intelligence as a tool to dramatically accelerate the scientific process, an initiative that the center’s organizers say could rapidly accelerate scientific progress.

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Penn State launches new artificial intelligence center for engineered systems

Penn State launches new artificial intelligence center for engineered systems

A newly founded, interdisciplinary research center established to further foundational and applied artificial intelligence in engineered systems will be housed in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Penn State College of Engineering.

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New AI framework introduced for cutting a 'multi-layered cake'

New AI framework introduced for cutting a 'multi-layered cake'

Expanding on an established problem in mathematics and computer science known as fair cake-cutting — a metaphor for cutting a cake in a way that each participant receives a slice that they believes to be fair — Hadi Hosseini, assistant professor at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, and his team have introduced a nove

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New machine learning model could remove bias from social network connections

New machine learning model could remove bias from social network connections

Did you ever wonder how social networking applications like Facebook and LinkedIn make recommendations on the people you should friend or pages you should follow?

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Facebook posts could identify substance use risk in homeless youth

Facebook posts could identify substance use risk in homeless youth

What a person posts on Facebook could predict their risk for substance use, according to new research led by the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology.

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$500,000 grant funds creation of institute to advance AI for materials science

$500,000 grant funds creation of institute to advance AI for materials science

A National Science Foundation grant will help lay the foundation for an interdisciplinary institute that encourages the use of artificial intelligence-enabled materials discovery, design and synthesis, according to a team of researchers.

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AI-defined COVID-19 testing strategy could lead to fewer infections

AI-defined COVID-19 testing strategy could lead to fewer infections

A new algorithm developed by researchers at the College of Information Sciences and Technology could help leaders of governments and organizations make better informed decisions on how many symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals to test for COVID-19 with a limited supply of daily tests, and at what stage of the pandemic.

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What if opting out of data collection were easy?

A new multi-institution study shows a dearth of privacy opt-out choices and offers a solution to empower users to readily identify choices often buried deep in the text of privacy policies.

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