Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) Den Bosch, is proud to start with three large Robust AI labs together with:
- Deloitte (Auditing for Responsible AI Software Systems) - 5 PhD's.
- DPG Media (Responsible Media Lab) - 5 PhD's in collaboration with UvA.
-
LaNubia (Innovation Lab for Utilities on Sustainable Technology and Renewable Energy) - 5 PhD's.
JADS is seeking enthusiastic colleagues for the positions of PhD students. We operationalize the huge ambition around AI by explicitly aligning our research agenda on Robust AI with the United Nation's sustainable development goals.
The project is funded in a public-private partnership by NWO/NLAIC and private partners. This position is part of the Responsible
Media Lab.
Description of the Responsible Media Lab (run jointly by UvA, JADS and DPG Media) How can AI contribute to the functioning of the media along the entire production chain (sourcing, production, distribution, engagement), and even fundamentally change aspects of the media as we know it? The lab will explore the potential of AI-driven solutions for the media, their professional role, opportunities for new business models and new ways of engaging with users, while taking into account professional values and the emerging regulatory framework for AI. The lab seeks to develop AI-based methods and solutions that facilitate more diverse news offerings to readers, working alongside human journalists.
The lab is a collaboration between UvA, JADS and DPG media and consists of 5 Ph.D. projects. All Ph.D. trajectories will focus on the development and evaluation of AI-based algorithms and tools to support responsible media production:
- Transparency and Explainability of AI Systems and Decisions for News (UvA: Prof.dr. Natali Helberger).
- Explaining Recommendations (UvA: Prof. dr. Maarten de Rijke, and JADS: dr.ir. Martijn Willemsen).
- Synergies between Platforms (JADS: dr. Ksenia Podoynitsyna and dr. Alexander Vossen).
- Network Perspective on the Content and User Behavior (JADS: dr. Ksenia Podoynitsyna and dr. Claudia Zucca).
- Generating Content (UvA: dr. Vlad Niculae).
All the Ph.D. students will closely interact with each other as the projects are complementary: they focus on either generating or better understanding the content, fueling further platform functionalities, or understanding interactions with the users of the platforms. While project 1, 3 and 4 focus on different aspects of the socio-technical system, project 2 and 5 are more focused on specific algorithms.
Short Description of the Ph.D. projectDigital platforms are booming. This research project is done in collaboration with DPG Media which manages various platforms and content brands, sometimes with distinct business models.
Online scale matters when operating local and independent media. One way to achieve this scale and make the media more resilient is to run the different media types as a connected set of platforms. Taking care of network effects is critical when managing platforms: the idea of network effects is that as the number of participants on each side grows, so does the value of the same or another group of participants. The most basic version could be, e.g., the more users, the more valuable the media platform is for advertisers (cross-side network effects example). Network effects come in different types and sizes, and substantially shape both the value within a given platform and the synergies between platforms.
This project aims to identify and understand the implications of the dependencies both within and across the different platforms (e.g., different types of direct and indirect network effects, for example, not only driven by the sheer numbers of users but also by the variety of complementors, by their utility, as well as reputation and data models implemented on the platform). One of the research goals is to move beyond a simple userbase measurement of network effects and identify novel metrics for measuring network effects within and across platforms. Another goal is to find existing and help design new network effects. The studies' results will allow DPG to predict new synergies across platforms and provide input for its recommender systems.
Job DescriptionYou will work on this project in close collaboration with DPG Media, which is active in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark and carries brands in television, radio, news, magazines, online services, and telco, all of them being run on a variety of media platforms and sometimes with distinct business models. Historically, most of these platforms were managed separately, hence identifying existing and potential demand and supply synergies and conflicts is particularly valuable. From the research perspective, this is an exceptional setting in which dynamics and interactions between various types of users, content, platforms, and business models can be uniquely explored. The research will employ a variety of analytical methods to identify existing synergies and conflicts in DPG Media's multiple platforms and will combine these methods with experiments to validate design of the potential platform-synergetic network effects.
This project is embedded in the Data Entrepreneurship unit of JADS, one of the three research units next to Data Governance and Data Analytics.