Chinasa T. Okolo, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University, will deliver a talk as part of CSRAI's Young Achievers Symposium.
"Navigating the Limits of AI Explainability: Designing for Novice Technology Users in Low-Resource Settings"
As researchers and technology companies rush to develop artificial intelligence (AI) applications that aid the health of marginalized communities, it is critical to consider the needs of the community health workers (CHWs) who will be increasingly expected to operate tools that incorporate these technologies. Okolo’s previous work has shown that these users have low levels of AI knowledge, form incorrect mental models about how AI works, and at times, may trust algorithmic decisions more than their own. This is concerning, given that AI applications targeting the work of CHWs are already in active development and early deployments in low-resource health care settings have already reported failures that created additional workflow inefficiencies and inconvenienced patients. Explainable AI (XAI) can help avoid such pitfalls, but nearly all prior work has focused on users that live in relatively resource-rich settings (e.g., the U.S. and Europe) and that arguably have substantially more experience with digital technologies such as AI. Okolo’s research works to develop XAI for people with low levels of formal education and technical literacy, with a focus on health care in low-resource domains. This work involves demoing interactive prototypes with CHWs to understand what aspects of model decision-making need to be explained and how they can be explained most effectively, with the goal of improving how current XAI methods target novice technology users.
About the Speaker
Chinasa T. Okolo is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University. Before coming to Cornell, she graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Computer Science. Her research interests include explainable AI, human-AI interaction, global health, and information and communication technologies for development (ICTD). Within these fields, she works on projects to understand how frontline health care workers in rural India perceive and value artificial intelligence and examines how explainability can be best leveraged in AI-enabled technologies deployed throughout the Global South.
About the Young Achievers Symposium
The Young Achievers Symposium highlights early career researchers in diverse fields of AI for social impact. The symposium series seeks to focus on emerging research, stimulate discussions, and initiate collaborations that can advance research in artificial intelligence for societal benefit. All events in the series are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Penn State students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty with an interest in socially responsible AI applications are encouraged to attend.