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About:

Currently I am the Head of AI at Digital Workforce Services Ltd. Previously I was a researcher in Probabilistic Machine Learning Group at Aalto University.

I am interested in the combination of machine learning and human-computer interaction. During my PhD studies I worked on human-in-the-loop machine learning and in particular scenarios where there is few labeled data available compared to the dimension of the problem. The goal of my work was to improve human-computer interaction by incorporating a probabilistic model of the human user in the system they are interacting with (see IUI 2016, ML 2017, IUI 2018, Bioinformatics 2018, JASIST 2019, NeurIPS 2019).

I also have experience in reinforcement learning (see Plos One 2014) and sampling algorithms for motion planning of robots (see  ICEE 2014).

Research interests:

• Probabilistic modelling, interactive machine learning, User modeling

• Sequential decision making, experimental design, multi-armed bandit

• Cognitive science, reinforcement learning

News:

September 2021 "Entity Recommendation for Everyday Digital Tasks" is published in ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). [link]. 

May 2020 Our paper "Human Strategic Steering Improves Performance of Interactive Optimization" is accepted in  28th International Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization. [preprint][code]. 

December 2019  I have been awarded 5,000 euros Nokia Scholarship from Nokia Foundation, intended to encourage efficient, fast-progressing doctoral studies and research. 

November 2019  I Gave a lecture on Bayesian Optimization for "ELEC-E7851 - Computational User Interface Design" course at Aalto University [slides] .

September 2019  "Machine Teaching of Active Sequential Learners" is accepted at NeurIPS 2019 . [blog][paper][code].

March 2019 Our new paper "Modelling User's Theory of AI's Mind in Interactive Intelligent Systems" is in arXiv now. [link].

March 2019 "Integrating neurophysiologic relevance feedback in intent modeling for information retrieval" is published in Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). [link]

June 2018 "Improving genomics-based predictions for precision medicine through active elicitation of expert knowledge" is published in Bioinformatics. [link] [code]

December 2017 3 x "I would argue for accepting this paper" (4/5) for our paper "User Modelling for Avoiding Overfitting in Interactive Knowledge Elicitation for Prediction". To appear in the 23rd ACM International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2018). [preprint] [code]

June 2017 "Knowledge Elicitation via Sequential Probabilistic Inference for High-Dimensional Prediction" is published in Machine Learning Journal. [pdf link] [code]

April 2017 I was advisor of Yi-Ping Liao in her thesis "Interactive Intent Modeling Based on Probabilistic Sparse Models". [link]

November 2016 Our paper "Probabilistic Expert Knowledge Elicitation of Feature Relevances in Sparse Linear Regression" will be presented in FILM 2016, NIPS Workshop on Future of Interactive Learning Machines. [link]

November 2016 I give two guest lectures in the course ELEC-E8122 - Multivariate regression methods L on “Gaussian Mixture Models” and "Gaussian Processes Regression".

August 2016 We published a book "Bit Bang 8: Digitalization" as the outcome of the Bit Bang 8 course in Aalto University.

March 2016  Our paper titled "Interactive Intent Modeling from Multiple Feedback Domains" is published in the 21st ACM International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2016)  [link] [poster] [slides] [preprint].

September 2015  I am the co-coordinator of the MindSee EU project for the partner Aalto University (PI Samuel Kaski).

September 2014  I joined HIIT under the supervision of Prof. Samuel Kaski and Prof. Teemu Roos.

July 2014  Reward Maximization Justifies the Transition from Sensory Selection at Childhood to Sensory Integration at Adulthood is published in PLoS One journal (2014).

July 2014 I defended my M.Sc. thesis titled "A Developmental Method for Multimodal Sensory Integration" at University of Tehran (grade: 20/20). [link]. (Advisors: Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, Maryam S. Mirian) (Examining Committee: Saeed Bagheri Shouraki, Reshad Hosseini).

May 2014  Our paper titled A Sampling Algorithm for Reducing the Number of Collision Checking in Probabilistic Roadmaps received the best paper award in the Control field of ICEE 2014.

May 2012 I joined the Cognitive Robotics Laboratory at University of Tehran under the supervision of Prof. Majid Nili Ahmadabadi.