PhD Studentship in Computer Science: Socio-technical Challenges of Delivering Safe and Ethical LLM-based Applications in Health and Law

The successful applicant will be funded for 3.5 years for a PhD degree in the Department of Computer Science at Warwick University. The AI and Human Centred Computing (AI-HCC) theme brings together research at the forefront of AI – multi-agent systems, machine learning, safe and ethical AI, human-AI interaction, explainable AI, participatory design, social shaping of AI.

The Computer Science department has 50 academic staff and was ranked 4th equal in REF2021. It collaborates with Warwick Medical School, the Interdisciplinary Ethics Research Group and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies.

The student will take a socio-technical approach to exploring challenges of implementing Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles in developing LLM-based applications in healthcare and law. A key goal will be to devise recommendations on how these may be addressed. This will involve: mapping AI ethics and safety regulations, RRI practices; surveys and interviews with LLM researchers, LLM-based application development teams, end users and stakeholders, focusing on practices, tools, factors influencing RRI adoption; ethnographic studies of LLM-based applications development.

Essential Qualifications - Academic degrees:

• Masters degree at merit level or above, BA 1st Class in Sociology of Science and Technology, Science and Technology Studies, Social Anthropology or related field. Exceptional candidates with a BSc/BEng in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning may also be considered. 

Research skills:

• Experience in qualitative research methodologies.

Desirable Skills - Research experience:

• Familiarity with ethnographic fieldwork methods
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary research team
• Interest in AI ethics and safety
• Interest in NLP, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and their applications

How to Apply - Application Process:

Applicants should submit applications through pgradmin.dcs.@warwick.ac.uk. All applicants must submit the following:

• BA/PG Degree transcripts
• CV (max 2 pages)
• Cover letter (max 4,500 characters) outlining your interest, and suitability, including how your current skills and experience are relevant to this PhD
• Research proposal (max 500 words)
• 2 references
• Other (academic or not) certificates

Queries regarding topic and project should be directed to Professor Rob Procter (rob.procter@warwick.ac.uk). For any other queries about the application process, refer to pgradmin.dcs.@warwick.ac.uk.

Funding Details

Full payment of Home tuition fees and an annual stipend at the UKRI rate for 3.5 years.

Closing Date: 31 July 2024 (23.59 hours GMT)

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