{"623602":{"#nid":"623602","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Samira Samadi Researches Theory that Can Help Everyone","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.samirasamadi.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESamira Samadi\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Ewas in her third year of college, she took a class on theory of computation where she learned about the Turing machine. The Church-Turing thesis, named after two renowned mathematicians, states that a simple abstract machine can determine any algorithmically solvable problem. The class was life-changing for the Sharif University of Technology mathematics student.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was super cool that such a simple structure can describe any algorithm or computation that a computer or a human could do,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;It was a window for me that what I study could go far beyond the abstract. I could do great things with it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the class, Samadi shifted her focus to theoretical computer science. Now a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the School of Computer Science, she has made it her mission to apply fundamental ideas in theoretical CS to practical problems, such as an\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/news\/607565\/georgia-tech-researchers-show-easy-ways-create-secure-passwords\u0022\u003E easy way\u003C\/a\u003E to generate secure \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.safepasswords.org\u0022\u003Epasswords\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBreaking the theory down so it\u0026rsquo;s simple for anyone to understand and benefit from has always been how Samadi approached problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When I start thinking about a problem, I have to first get rid of a lot of conditions and transform it into a basic question, and that is the point when I can think creatively and connect the problem to different concepts,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;That is when the motivation and the excitement sparks, thinking that what I\u0026rsquo;m doing could be used by another person or in an influential application.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImproving Fairness\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of those connecting points is the growing field of\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/news\/616279\/human-rights-may-help-shape-artificial-intelligence-2019\u0022\u003E fairness in machine learning\u003C\/a\u003E (ML). As more products and services use ML for everything from home loans to\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/news\/620309\/research-reveals-possibly-fatal-consequences-algorithmic-bias\u0022\u003E self-driving cars\u003C\/a\u003E, ethical issues can arise because much of the data models are trained on is historical and subject to bias.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany researchers believe bias is the model or data\u0026rsquo;s fault, but it can often start as early as the data processing step, as Samadi has been researching. Last year, she\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/news\/615576\/georgia-tech-researchers-improve-fairness-machine-learning-pipeline\u0022\u003E offered a solution\u003C\/a\u003E to remove bias from one of the first steps in the ML pipeline, principal component analysis. Her work reduced bias in low-dimensional representations of large datasets. This year, she tackled\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/news\/622219\/new-machine-learning-algorithms-keep-group-data-diverse\u0022\u003E models\u003C\/a\u003E to ensure group data was fairly represented.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFairness is a burgeoning field, which enables Samadi to pick the problems that most interest her, but she also has a more personal motivation for this research as a woman in computer science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In fifth grade, I was the only girl competing for math olympiad in our state,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;That was probably the first time I felt I would be in the minority if I continued in this field.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experience has impacted how she views gender ever since.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;No matter how confident one is, working in a male-dominated environment can\u0026nbsp; negatively affect a woman\u0026rsquo;s perception of her abilities,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;If I was in a more diverse environment or if I had seen more women in my field, this harm could be prevented, so I want to really grab this opportunity now that people care about fairness, diversity, and discrimination.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Samira Samadi is an SCS Ph.D. student who has a practical approach to theory."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2019-07-22 18:54:09","changed_gmt":"2019-07-23 13:21:58","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623604":{"id":"623604","type":"image","title":"Samira Samadi","body":null,"created":"1563821963","gmt_created":"2019-07-22 18:59:23","changed":"1563821963","gmt_changed":"2019-07-22 18:59:23","alt":"Samira Samadi","file":{"fid":"237510","name":"5.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/5.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/5.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":458589,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/5.jpeg?itok=nXpXeKHS"}}},"media_ids":["623604"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"50875","name":"School of Computer Science"},{"id":"576481","name":"ML@GT"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Communications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etess.malone@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}