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Email: meslami[at]andrew.cmu.edu

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Motahhare Eslami

Assistant Professor

School of Computer Science, 

Human-Computer Interaction Institute, 

Carnegie Mellon University

My name is Motahhare Eslami, officially Motahareh EslamiMehdiabadi (I know, it's long!). I am an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the School of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction Institute. My research is broadly in human-computer interaction, social computing, and data mining. I received my PhD in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I was advised by Professor Karrie Karahalios. In my research, I investigate the existing accountability challenges in algorithmic systems and to empower the users of algorithmic systems, particularly those who belong to marginalized communities and those whose decisions impact marginalized communities, make transparent, fair, and informed decisions in interaction with algorithmic systems. I am honored to be named one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics. 

My research has been discussed in the popular press, including Time, The Washington Post, HuffingtonPost, the BBC, WIRED, Quartz, CBC Radio, Fortune, International Business Times, New Scientist, and MIT Technology Review. My research is supported by NSF (Fairness in AI, AI Institute, Future of Work), Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Cisco.

Teaching

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  • Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics (FATE) in Sociotechnical Systems; Spring  & Fall 2022

  • User-Centered Research and Evaluation (UCRE); Spring & Fall 2021, Spring & Fall 2023

News

  • Oct 2023: Our CSCW 2023 paper, "The Potential of Diverse Youth as
    Stakeholders in Identifying and Mitigating Algorithmic Bias for a Future of Fair AI" has received the Recognition Award for Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion. 

  • April 2023: Our CHI 2023 paper, “ "I Would Like to Design": Black Girls Analyzing and Ideating Fair and Accountable AI” has received an Honorable Mention Awards for Best Paper.

  • March 2023: I'm thrilled to receive the Teaching Innovation Award at CMU

  • Feb 2023: Three papers accepted at CHI exploring  topics related to FATE issues including Understanding Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities for User-Engaged Algorithm Auditing in Industry Practice, Participation and Division of Labor in User-Driven Algorithm Audits,  and Black Girls Analyzing and Ideating Fair and Accountable AI.    

  • Jan 2023: I'm honored to be named one of “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics”

  • March 2022: Our CSCW 2021 paper, “Algorithmic Folk Theories and Identity: How TikTok Users Engage in Algorithmic Resistance and Identity Co-Production” has received an Honorable Mention Awards for Best Paper.

  • ​Aug 2021: I’m thrilled to be a part of the $20M, 5-year NSF award (with Amazon and Google as industry partners) on “The AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING)”. This is a large multi-institute collaborative effort between Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon University, Oregon State University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Oregon Health & Science University. [Award News, AI-CARING]

  • Aug 2021: Our paper on everyday algorithm auditing is accepted to CSCW21.

  • May 2021: I’m honored to be one of the keynote speakers at L@S this year.

  • Mar 2021: Our paper algorithmic folk theories and identity is accepted to CSCW21.

  • Jan 2021: Our $1M, 3-year NSF award (with Amazon as the industry partner) on “Organizing Crowd Audits to Detect Bias in Machine Learning” has been funded. [Award Abstract]

Selected Publications

  • J. Solyst, E. Yang, S. Xie, A. Ogan, J. Hammer, M. Eslami, The Potential of Diverse Youth as Stakeholders in Identifying and Mitigating Algorithmic Bias for a Future of Fair AI, Proceedings of ACM in Human Computer Interaction (PACM), 2023, CSCW. ⭐ Recognition for Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion 

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  • W. Deng, N. Yildirim, M. Chang, M. Eslami, K. Holstein and M. Madaio, Exploring Opportunities to Support Cross-functional Collaboration for AI Fairness in Industry Practice, ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT), 2023.

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  • R. Li, S. Kingsley, C. Fan, P. Sinha, N. Wai, J. Lee, H. Shen, M. Eslami, J. Hong. "Participation and Division of Labor in User-Driven Algorithm Audits: How Do Everyday Users Work Together to Surface Algorithmic Harms?", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2023.

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  • J. Solyst, S. Xie, E. Yang, A. Stewart, M. Eslami, J. Hammer, and A. Ogan.  "I Would Like to Design'': Black Girls Analyzing and Ideating Fair and Accountable AI.  ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2023.⭐ Honorable Mention Award for Best Paper

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  • W. Deng, B. Guo, A. DeVrio, H. Shen, M. Eslami *, K. Holstein*, Understanding Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities for User-Engaged Algorithm Auditing in Industry Practice, *: equal contribution), ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2023.

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  • A. London, Y. Razin, J. Borenstein, M. Eslami , R. Perkins, and P. Robinette, "Ethical Issues in Near-Future Socially Supportive Smart Assistants for Older Adults", IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society, 2023.

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  • S. Singlaa, M. Eslami, B. Pollackc, S. Wallaced, K. Batmanghelich, "Explaining the Black-box Smoothly - A Counterfactual Approach'", Medical Image Analysis, Elsevier Journal, 2023.

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  • S. Kingsley, P. Sinha, C. Wang, M. Eslami, and J. Hong; “Give everybody [..] a little bit more equity”: Content Creator Perspectives and Responses to Algorithmic Demonetization of Content Associated with Marginalized Communities, Proceedings of ACM in Human Computer Interaction (CSCW), 2022. 

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  • A. DeVos, A. Dhabalia, H. Shen, K. Holstein+, and M. Eslami+. Toward User-Driven Algorithm Auditing: Investigating Users’ Strategies for Uncovering Harmful Algorithmic Behavior. Conditionally accepted, CHI 2022. (+: equal contribution) [pdf]

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  • J. Park, K. Karahalios, N. Salehi, and M. Eslami. Power Dynamics and Value Conflicts in Designing and Maintaining Socio-Technical Algorithmic Processes, Proceedings of ACM in Human Computer Interaction (CSCW), 2022. [pdf] 

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  • J. Solyst,, A. Axon, A.E.B. Stewart, A.E.B., M. Eslami, and A. Ogan. Investigating Girls’ Perspectives and Knowledge Gaps on Ethics and Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in a Lightweight Workshop. The International Conference of the Learning Sciences 2022 (ICLS).

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  • H. Shen∗ and A. DeVos∗, M. Eslami+ and K. Holstein+. Everyday Algorithm Auditing: Understanding the Power of Everyday Users in Surfacing Harmful Algorithmic Behaviors. Proceedings of ACM in Human Computer Interaction (CSCW), 2021. [pdf]

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  • N. Karizat, D. Delmonaco, M. Eslami, N. Andalibi. Algorithmic Folk Theories and Identity: How TikTok Users Engage in Algorithmic Resistance and Identity Co-Production. Proceedings of ACM in Human Computer Interaction (CSCW), 2021.[pdf] ⭐ Honorable Mention Award for Best Paper

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  • J. Asplund, M. Eslami, H. Sundaram, C. Sandvig, K. Karahalios. Auditing Race and Gender Discrimination in Online Housing Markets. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), 2020. [pdf]

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  • J. Salminen, J. M. Santos, S. Jung, M. Eslami, and B. J. Jansen. Persona Transparency: Analyzing theImpact of Explanations on Perceptions of Data-Driven Personas, Internationl Journal of Human-ComputerInteraction, 2019.[pdf]

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  • M. Eslami, K. Vaccaro, M. K. Lee, A. Elazari, E. Gilbert, and K. Karahalios. User Attitudes towards Algorithmic Opacity and Transparency in Online Reviewing Platforms. Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference (CHI), 2019.[pdf]

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  • J. Kulshrestha, M. Eslami, J. Messias, M. B. Zafar, S. Ghosh, K. P. Gummadi, and K Karahalios.Search bias quantification: investigating political bias in social media and web search. Information Retrieval Journal, 1-40, 2018.[pdf]

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