Postdoc in Software Engineering - Human-AI Interaction

As a PostDoc researcher in the Division of Interaction Design and Software Engineering you will be part of a team of researcher with a focus on Software Engineering, AI Engineering and Human Computer Interaction. The candidate will benefit from our many ongoing collaborations with academia and industry and the opportunities for further professional development.

Project Description
A key aspect of human-AI interaction, which is neglected when designing AI systems, is the human decision-makers. In essence, the human’s perception of the communication received from the AI is core to this interaction. AI systems that are developed to bridge the gap between AI and humans, where humans are the consumers of AI system predictions, are intended to improve the quality of decisions. However, humans often make less than optional decisions since they are distorted by their cognitive biases, thus AI systems can reinforce biases or improve the way humans think about a situation. Thus, we argue that it is natural to use the dual-process theory as a lens to understand human cognition when designing AI systems that are intended to augment human intelligence.

In this project we seek to augment human intelligence by not only develop effective explanation techniques, but also by identifying ways to increase humans cognitive motivation for engaging analytically with the explanations from an AI system when designing AI systems that are intended to augment human intelligence.

Information about the department and division
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering is a joint department at Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg in Sweden with approximately 300 employees from more than 30 countries is widely recognised for excellent research and education. Our department is located in Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg - the world’s most sustainable destination every year since 2016 according to the Global Destination Sustainability Index. The four research divisions at our department are essential scientific facilitators in a vibrant ecosystem of software-intensive companies. This ecosystem is complemented by a growing start-up scene supported by collaboration hubs like MobilityX Labs and AI Sweden, the national center for applied AI that brings together over 120 partners across public and private sectors including academia.

We are announcing one PostDoc position that is placed at the Division for Interaction Design and Software Engineering with Chalmers University of Technology as the employer. Our division provides world-leading research and education in the development of complex and software-intensive systems and is characterised by extensive international cooperation as well as close collaboration with the local industry. With approximately 50 researchers including PhD students, PostDocs, and professors, we are one of the largest academic software engineering research groups in the world. Our core expertise is in AI Engineering, software testing, requirements engineering, behavioral software engineering, and software engineering for automotive systems. Being broadly recognised in the academic community, our division has hosted top international conferences such as ICSE, SPLC, ICSA, REFSQ, and EASE during the past recent years.

Major responsibilities
As a Postdoctoral researcher your main responsibility is to lead the research project in collaboration with the project PIs and drive its implementation (80%) and to teach (20%) within the area of software engineering. The teaching activities at the department consists of lecturing, supervising exercises, supervising Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis projects for at most 20% of your time.

The research entails conducting literature reviews in the area of AI Engineering, Software Engineering, and Cognitive Science that describe cognitive biases, debiasing strategies (including visualization of the output from AI systems), and strategies to increase human cognitive motivation for engaging in analytical thinking. To develop a methodology for how to use dual process theoretical analysis of decision-making for human-AI collaboration to reason about cognitive bias when designing and developing AI systems. Finally, conducting case studies, surveys, and experiments to validate and refine the developed methodology.

Qualifications
To qualify for this position you must hold a doctoral degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related area, awarded no more than three years prior to the application deadline (according to the current agreement with the Swedish Agency for Government Employers). Exceptions from the 3-year limit can be made for longer periods resulting from parental leave, sick leave or military service*.

This position requires excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Programming skills in Python is required.

Preferable you have experience in Human Computer Interaction, quantitative methods, empirical research, and Artificial Intelligence. It would be beneficial to have experience in cognitive science and/or psychology.

* The date shown in your doctoral degree certificate is the date we use, as this is the date you have met all requirements for the doctoral degree.

Contract terms
This postdoc position is a full-time temporary employment for two years.
Employment expected to begin 2024-10-01.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

For more information about the application procedure, please visit Chalmers website. 

Application deadline: 2024-08-31

 
For questions, please contact:
Richard Berntsson Svensson, Division of Interaction Design and Software Engineering,
richard@cse.gu.se