As the first guest speaker of the MCDS Distinguished Lecture, Prof. Meeyoung Cha gave a lecture on “Making Discoveries for Humanity & Society with Data Science” at the University of Mannheim on April 9. In an entertaining presentation, she talked about the data sets she uses to investigate social change and the challenges she faces in doing so, and spoke in particular about research into sustainable development and social dynamics. The event was initiated and moderated by Prof. Markus Strohmaier.
With the exponential increase in data and computing power, we are making important discoveries for humanity and society at an ever faster pace. Data-driven measurements are crucial for decision-making. Many of the world's poorest countries still lack accurate data for basic statistics such as population density and wealth. Meeyoung used examples from North Korea and North Africa to show how computer vision can be used to draw conclusions about the economic development of a region from high-resolution satellite images taken during the day.
In the second part of the presentation, Meeyoung turned to the use of AI and data science for social purposes: new technologies such as social media, chatbots and AI systems are changing the way people interact with each other and with information. This can lead to negative outcomes such as misinformation and hate speech. However, there are also positive effects, such as equal opportunities and the mental support of social groups. Meeyoung's team investigated the spread of rumors and fake news to 50,000 people in 151 countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meeyoung's work on misinformation, poverty mapping, fraud detection and long-tail content has been cited over 20,000 times and won awards. In addition, she also shared with the interested audience her experiences during a year-long sabbatical at Facebook in Silicon Valley.
The MCDS is very pleased with the successful start of the new event series, thanks Prof. Cha very much for her visit and looks forward to further lectures in the fall semester.
