CyCAT Webinar: Recommender Systems as the Lens of Life

Presentation Abstract: Increasingly, algorithms have a strong impact on how we experience the world around us. For example, recommendation algorithms are used to point us to products we might want to buy online, restaurants we should try, or even news articles we might be interested in. As convenient as such recommendations can be, the required automated filtering of content comes with consequences. In this talk, Dr. Hopfgartner will first briefly introduce the most common algorithms used by modern recommender systems. Moreover, he will discuss current limitations and pitfalls of recommender systems. Finally, he will outline a vision on recommendations as the Lens of Life.

Short Bio: Dr Frank Hopfgartner is a Senior Lecturer in Data Science at the Information School of University of Sheffield. His research to date can be placed in the intersection of information systems (e.g., information retrieval and recommender systems), content analysis and data science. He has (co-) authored over 150 publications in above mentioned research fields, including a book on smart information systems, various book chapters and papers in peer-reviewed journals, conferences and workshops. To date, he has successfully acquired over £1 Million in research funding from national and international sources to support his research. He gained manifold work experience at research-led science & engineering centers in the US, Ireland, and Germany, as well as at leading universities in Germany, China, and the UK. Building on this experience, a further theme of his work is to bridge the gap between academia and industry, e.g., by collaborating closely with industry to incorporate real-world challenges in his teaching, or by creating opportunities for academics to benefit from companies’ resources or expertise.

About CyCAT and the series:The Cyprus Center for Algorithmic Transparency (CyCAT) is hosted at the Open University of Cyprus, the second public university in Cyprus and the only one dedicated to open and distance education. We collaborate with other researchers internationally and have recently teamed up with four leading universities across Europe and Israel through an H2020 Twinning grant. Our team holds key expertise in the algorithmic processes involved in information access, user interactions with algorithmic systems, user-system interaction, as well as the social and cultural implications of algorithmic processes.The CyCAT research seminar series is open to participants worldwide. Its goal is to promote the understanding of algorithmic transparency and accountability, and to network with other professionals and researchers working in the area.

WHERE: The seminar is hosted online through the OUC’s video platform https://video.ouc.ac.cy The live link will be sent to participants, after submitting the registration form: https://forms.gle/ZAcPonZwMZvvuSgA8