Browsing by Author "Sawhney, Nitin"

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  • Augmented reality sandboxes: children's play and storytelling with mirror worlds
    (2021-01-08) Leinonen, Teemu; Brinck, Jaana; Vartiainen, Henriikka; Sawhney, Nitin
     A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
    Augmented Reality (AR) technology has provided a new technological platform for 'mirror worlds', where layers of information, meaning, and functions are integrated with a digital twin of the real world. To explore mirror worlds, we designed and developed +Andscape, an interactive AR sandbox. In this conceptual and empirical case study, we observed children's (5-6-year-old, N = 16) collaborative play and storytelling with +Andscape. The qualitative content analysis from observational video-based data allows us to infer how children's play with the AR sandbox engaged their questioning and reflections of both the real world events and the computational mirror worlds. The use of the tool triggered children's imagination and opened for them a story world for exploration of current media events in a unique way. We conclude that when introducing mirror worlds, the focus should be on creative play, participation and storytelling through which the children can construct their own story worlds.
  • Collaborative Sensemaking in Crisis : Designing Practices and Platforms for Resilience
    (2023-07-10) Varanasi, Uttishta Sreerama; Leinonen, Teemu; Sawhney, Nitin; Tikka, Minttu; Ahsanullah, Rahim
     A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
    The COVID-19 pandemic exemplified the complexity of the field of crisis communication, with multiple channels and streams of information and misinformation causing new challenges for the authorities and general public alike. This complexity requires better addressing the situated and interrelated aspects of sensemaking practices and platforms, and how different disciplines and organisations collaborate during a crisis to turn ambiguity into resilience, and complexity into comprehension. We use design research and participatory design methodology to draw on learnings from the Finnish context and response to COVID-19 and other crises. These insights are then used to create design principles that bridge crisis informatics theory with HCI knowledge to create speculative, diegetic artefacts, which embody new practices and platforms that can be used to encourage collaborative sensemaking to tackle complex, large-scale crises and therefore have a positive impact on the resilience of the society.
  • Construction of Hyper-Relational Knowledge Graphs Using Pre-Trained Large Language Models
    (2024-09-12) Datta, Preetha
     School of Science | Master's thesis
    Hyper-relational knowledge graphs serve as a technique to organize previously unstructured data. Question-answering systems built on these graphs excel at handling multi-hop questions and offer clear, transparent answers. However, developing a question-answering system centered around knowledge graphs can pose significant challenges and demands considerable effort. This thesis endeavors to streamline the process by leveraging large language models to generate hyper-relational knowledge graphs since it implies cheaper knowledge graph construction methodologies in the future. This thesis tests a range of prompting strategies across a subset of large language models to thoroughly evaluate their effectiveness in extracting entities and relations. These entities and relations are essential building blocks for constructing a knowledge graph. By applying different prompting techniques, the research aims to determine the most efficient and accurate methods for entity and relation extraction. This evaluation provides insights into the capabilities and limitations of large language models in the context of knowledge graph development. We also perform a comparison of the prompting techniques with some existing supervised methodologies. The evaluation metric utilized in this thesis is BERTScore. Additionally, the thesis provides a comprehensive discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of BERTScore, as well as other evaluation metrics. This analysis aims to highlight the strengths and limitations of each metric, offering a balanced perspective on their applicability and effectiveness in assessing the outcomes of entity and relation extraction. The highest results achieved in this thesis are attributed to large language model based prompting that incorporates the relation descriptions of the dataset.
  • Constructs of power in crisis management missions. A reflective journey on the understandings and experiences of Finnish experts
    (2021) Dahm, Martina
     School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
    Human interaction creates forms of power that establish themselves in theories and practices, becoming self-evident truths and norms with time. These might intentionally or unintentionally maintain certain power structures that in turn foster inequalities. From a crisis management perspective, power can be seen both as a hindrance and an opportunity of cooperation for peace. Crises and conflicts often erupt from complex interplay of power between actors and their interests. Simultaneously, international organisations use their authorised power to engage in conflicts to resolve them, often through crisis management and peacebuilding missions. In these missions, experts from different backgrounds are brought together to collaborate in the midst of entangled power dynamics. In this study, power is investigated from the perspective of Finnish experts in crisis management. There is a lack of research on practitioners' understandings and experiences of power. This thesis aims to illustrate power that is present in missions. This is also a personal reflection of the researcher to enhance her understanding of power and how to overcome situations where inequalities are involuntarily reinforced due to existing power structures. The study is a collaboration with the Crisis Management Centre Finland and the outcome of the thesis is created together with the institution. The research framework is built around critical theories (intersectionality, reflective practice, decolonised and respectful design) and participatory action research to engage the researcher and participants in depth to the unpacking of power and collect data that can be applied in the field of crisis management. Methods such as interviews, workshops, storytelling and mapping have been used. The researcher strives to showcase an alternative approach to design and encourages design practitioners to explore their capabilities beyond their own field. The findings indicate complex interrelations of several constructs of power when experts are working with their colleagues in mission. Five constructs of power were highlighted: power as agency, position, responsibility, purpose and knowledge. Furthermore, the manifestations of power were connected with the individual qualities of experts, their attitude and capabilities. Reflective practice was acknowledged as a significant tool to support learning and self-development. Thus, the outcome proposed in this thesis is a concept of a reflective game to enhance these skills of experts. By visualising the power dynamics and fostering reflection, the researcher suggests that power and its underlying norms and truths should be critically examined in order to foster cooperation, equality and sustainable peace in crisis management.
  • Contestations in urban mobility: rights, risks & responsibilities for Urban AI
    (2022-07-04) Sawhney, Nitin
     A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
    Cities today are dynamic urban ecosystems with evolving physical, socio-cultural, and technological infrastructures. Many contestations arise from the effects of inequitable access and intersecting crises currently faced by cities, which may be amplified by the algorithmic and data-centric infrastructures being introduced in urban contexts. In this paper, I argue for a critical lens into how inter-related urban technologies, big data and policies, constituted as Urban AI, offer both challenges and opportunities. I examine scenarios of contestations in urban mobility, defined broadly to include equitable access, movement, and liberty to engage with the socio-cultural, political, and urban fabric of cities. I anchor my arguments through a framework of rights, risks, and responsibilities for critically examining and configuring the roles, values and ethical implications for all stakeholders including human, AI and non-human entities within an urban ecosystem. As a way forward, I examine the European Commission’s proposed regulations on AI systems through an illustrative case study of an automated parking control system introduced by the City of Amsterdam. In moving beyond the city to broader urban ecosystems, I highlight the role of engaging Indigenous perspectives for designing and reconciling the implications of equitable and sustainable Urban AI ecosystems in the future.
  • COVID-19 reporting in the news media in Finland: A Topic Modeling Approach
    (2022-03-22) Lygdman, Jonatan
     Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
    The COVID crisis has received unprecedented attention in the news media during the past two years, as a crisis with never-before-seen reach both geographically and by the number of affected people. The COVID crisis has combined aspects of an acute crisis and a slowly developing one, as well as creating the demand for health information, creating a unique situation for both communicators and the public from an informational stand-point. The goal of this thesis is to create an overview of the content of the news articles of four major Finnish newspapers during the first 18 months of the pandemic. To investigate the media, 51686 news articles were scraped from the respective news media websites. These articles were structured using LDA topic modeling, and 38 topics were recognized, which were further grouped under seven broader themes. The results of the topic model were investigated both from a temporal perspective and per newspaper. The reporting in the news media is consistent with many known aspects of crisis communication but simultaneously shows unique aspects. Temporally heavily evolving topics included first geographical focus and educating about the nature of the virus, to prevention methods such as masks and testing, and finally vaccinations becoming the most popular subject. Other topics, such as the impact of COVID and restriction news, stayed at the core of reporting for the entirety of the dataset. Across newspapers the differences in topics were smaller than initially hypothesized, and in most of the topics barely noticeable. The most important events during the pandemic that were recognized from the model were the initial rising number of cases in Finland, the isolation of the Uusimaa region, the shortage of PPEs worldwide, the mask recommendation by THL, the authorization to the vaccines by EMA, and the curfew discussions by the government.
  • Designing Effective User Onboarding Experiences for Mobile Applications
    (2020-10-20) Chiappetta, Antonio
     Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
    User onboarding is the process of increasing the likelihood that new users become successful when adopting your product, by providing them with the right tools to understand how a product works and what benefits it provides. The number of apps we daily manage on our mobile devices increases day by day, thus requiring a hard work by designers to create the best user onboarding experience ever. Since it represents the first interactive, direct experience that every user has of an app, every aspect of the funnel represents a significant opportunity for activation and retention of customers in the short- and long-term. In the wide landscape of mobile apps, brain training apps need to have an additional closer look at the onboarding experience they provide. For this type of apps, onboarding does not only encompass more common activities such as user registration and free trial activation, but also the possibility to develop an accurately personalized game experience, tailored to the user’s current cognitive skills and training objectives. Elevate is a successful brain training app available on iOS and Android devices. Recent monitoring of users’ retention and churn rates have shown a huge loss of customers during the onboarding process, thus generating the need to investigate on how to restructure the flow in a way that could help keeping more customers in the loop. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data with respect to Elevate’s key success metrics has led to a redesign of the welcome pitch, the user registration process, and the post-registration up-sell screen. It has also brought changes to the immediate post-onboarding experience of the first training session, and to the re-onboarding of churned users. A/B tests have been carried out to analyze the behavior of different variants and choose the optimal new onboarding flow. First results show expansion of the onboarding funnel, strengthening of the benefit appeal, and acceleration in user motivation, all factors leading to a higher customer activation and retention.
  • Emerging AI Discourses and Policies in the EU: Implications for Evolving AI Governance
    (2023) Gonzalez Torres, Ana Paula; Kajava, Kaisla; Sawhney, Nitin
     A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
    With the emergence of powerful generative AI technologies and the increasing prevalence of high-risk AI systems in society, the conversation around the regulation of AI has gained critical global traction. Meanwhile, policymakers and regulators are struggling to stay on top of technological advances in AI. Our work uses an interdisciplinary approach combining computational linguistics, law, and sociology to examine the developments in policy discourses around the AI Act (AIA) in the European Union (EU) and their implications for global AI policy. We base our analysis on findings from an ongoing study of multi-stakeholder feedback to the AI Act, leveraging Natural Language Inference (NLI) to examine the language used by diverse stakeholders to justify viewpoints for and against the AIA. Based on the outcomes of that analysis and engaging an AI policy perspective, we examine how those initial discourses are reflected in the amendments to the AI Act during the EU co-legislative process. The study is anchored on identified trends of contentious points in the regulation, such as the definition of AI, general principles, prohibited practices, a tiered approach to foundation models, general-purpose and generative AI, high-risk categorization as well as measures supporting innovation, such as AI regulatory sandboxes. We reflect on the implications of emerging discourses, regulatory policies, and experimental frameworks for global AI governance. Our take is that experimental regulation, such as regulatory sandboxes, can offer a window of opportunity to incorporate a global perspective and produce better-informed regulation and governance of AI.
  • Engaging Design Ethics in Automotive User Experience Design
    (2023-01-23) He, Mingjun
     Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
  • Enhancing Conversations in Migrant Counseling Services: Designing for Trustworthy Human-AI Collaboration
    (2024-05-20) Truong, Lucy
     Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
    Migrants arriving or residing in Finland require a variety of counseling and support services, in municipal contexts such as the City of Espoo, to successfully integrate into Finnish society. This thesis conducts qualitative and user experience research using a series of participatory design methods to understand the challenges migrants face on arrival and then explores novel, theory-driven design concepts for improving communication between these users and municipal service advisors. The three main objectives of this thesis are: 1) understanding the challenges faced by service advisors and their customers in the context of migration to Finland, 2) designing and prototyping improved user experience concepts using participatory research methods, and 3) evaluating a proof-of-concept design approach in an appropriate use case scenario. The key findings are twofold. First, our empirical findings suggest that migrant customers often lack knowledge of how municipal services are organized and service advisors guide them in navigating complex information across different digital services. Second, our design concept highlights the importance of supporting the relevant intentions and expectations when evaluating the adequacy of AI-generated visual summaries that can enhance conversations between service advisors and migrant customers. The goals of the design research is not to replace service advisors, but to enhance their ability to better support migrant customers in real-time interactions. Finally, we offer theoretical implications. By reifying a conversation into a manipulable object, we can augment knowledge sharing. This digital ``boundary object" can act as a memory aid when reused by customers and service advisors at a later date. Future research should focus on how AI-augmented service counseling can affect trust in computer-supported collaborative settings.
  • Enhancing Conversations in Migrant Counseling Services: Designing for Trustworthy Human-AI Collaboration
    (2024-11-09) Truong, Lucy; Lee, Sunok; Sawhney, Nitin
     A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
    Migrants often face a complex situation for navigating services and administrative processes to transition and integrate into a new environment. They rely on guidance from service advisors and informal peers like other migrants to assist them. Service advisors try to understand, explore, and resolve migrant concerns through conversational interaction, while often seeking advice from other domain experts. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI)-mediated communication holds the potential for enhancing communication between migrants and service advisors while leveraging the expertise of service advisors and facilitating migrants’ autonomy in the integration process. Our research investigates the social context, mental models, and challenges encountered in guidance counseling for migrants in Finland, while examining what role AI-mediated communication can play in supporting the process. Based on our findings, we propose design implications for improving shared understanding between service advisors and migrants through salient summarization of conversations and creating collaborative visual narratives. Our findings also indicate the crucial role of leveraging peer-based knowledge between (and within) service advisors, domain experts, and migrants, which can be facilitated by AI-based tools. Our exploratory research offers insights into human-centered AI integration in the migration process, as well as the opportunities and challenges of using AI mediated communication to improve the migrant experience.
  • Exploring visual vocabularies – Visual analysis on COVID-19 visualizations from a designer’s perspective
    (2023) Hyökki, Suvi
     School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
    This study explores the visual vocabularies of information visualizations in a context of crisis with a mixed-method approach from a designer’s perspective. The main goals were to find out how different visualizations communicate information in a context of a crisis, how the information visualizations can be analyzed, and investigate the crisis ecosystem to support a visualization designer’s work in a context of a crisis. The questions are answered through a case study of COVID-19 in which visualizations illustrated that visual vocabularies in crisis are born organically in a social context. Through visual analyses, which were conducted with three different visualization analysis frameworks, encoding and rhetorical aspects of visualizations were revealed, complementing the data by interviewing data designers in media in order to understand the context. As a result, this study suggests that a visualization design process in a crisis context is profoundly multi-professional and multilayered. Based on my study, in a crisis context visualizations communicate information with clear encodings, and design choices play an essential role. My study also dissects the relevant elements in the visualization design process by backing the results with systems thinking and social semiotics, and suggesting a new framework in a form of an ecosystem map for designing visualizations in a context of a crisis.
  • Feminist Futures Helsinki Hackathon: Transdisciplinary co-creation of socially engaged projects
    (2021-10-18) Duran Sanchez, Eva; Hansen, Henriette
     Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
    This transdisciplinary thesis exhibits the potentials found in the intersection between (1) feminism(s), (2) real estate, land use and urban planning, (3) participatory design approaches, and (4) hackathons. In addition, the thesis documents the organisation and execution of a feminist hackathon organised in May 2021 in Helsinki, Finland. The study consists of a literature review of the four main topics mentioned above, exploring overlaps and contradictions to understand the potential of the union. In addition, a thorough recount and analysis is made of the Feminist Futures Helsinki hackathon (FFH), refecting on its organisation (before), its unfolding (during) and its impact (after). The study draws from methods from PAR and ethnography such as semi-structured interviews, surveys, ethnographic observations, diagram sketching and case studies. Furthermore, the analysis ofers in-depth insights from four of the 12 projects that resulted from the hackathon. Namely, the cases cover topics of inclusion in participatory planning in Helsinki and Lapinlahti, Sámi allyship and age-inclusive participatory communities. The thesis ofers insights into a refexive journey, where the co-authors explore their own positionality and power within the structures created for the hackathon. Key takeaways from this work in the context of organising feminist hackathons include: (1) it matters who sets the agenda, (2) it matters who participates, (3) it matters who benefts, (4) processes matter as much as outcomes, and (5) accountability matters. The co-authors argue for the potential of feminist hackathons to shift public discourse by bringing attention to topics and issues that are otherwise ignored; to encourage educational institutions like universities to rethink partnerships with community organisations; to challenge tech-solutionism. In addition, by centring intersectional feminist values such as accessibility and pursuit of justice, organisers of feminist hackathons will enable more diverse participation.
  • Feminist Futures Helsinki hackathon: Transdisciplinary co-creation of socially engaged projects
    (2021) Hansen, Henriette; Duran Sanchez, Eva
     School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
    This transdisciplinary thesis exhibits the potentials found in the intersection between (1) feminism(s), (2) real estate, land use and urban planning, (3) participatory design approaches, and (4) hackathons. In addition, the thesis documents the organisation and execution of a feminist hackathon organised in May 2021 in Helsinki, Finland. The study consists of a literature review of the four main topics mentioned above, exploring overlaps and contradictions to understand the potential of the union. In addition, a thorough recount and analysis is made of the Feminist Futures Helsinki hackathon (FFH), reflecting on its organisation (before), its unfolding (during) and its impact (after). The study draws from methods from PAR and ethnography such as semi-structured interviews, surveys, ethnographic observations, diagram sketching and case studies. Furthermore, the analysis offers in-depth insights from four of the 12 projects that resulted from the hackathon. Namely, the cases cover topics of inclusion in participatory planning in Helsinki and Lapinlahti, Sámi allyship and age-inclusive participatory communities. The thesis offers insights into a reflexive journey, where the co-authors explore their own positionality and power within the structures created for the hackathon. Key takeaways from this work in the context of organising feminist hackathons include: (1) it matters who sets the agenda, (2) it matters who participates, (3) it matters who benefits, (4) processes matter as much as outcomes, and (5) accountability matters. The co-authors argue for the potential of feminist hackathons to shift public discourse by bringing attention to topics and issues that are otherwise ignored; to encourage educational institutions like universities to rethink partnerships with community organisations; to challenge tech-solutionism. In addition, by centring intersectional feminist values such as accessibility and pursuit of justice, organisers of feminist hackathons will enable more diverse participation.
  • How Finnish News Actors Perceive and Combat Visual Disinformation
    (2024-06-18) Lares, Sanni
     Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
    The rapid development of artificial intelligence has allowed large masses of people to create ever more believable images and videos without the need for technical expertise. In Finland, trust in the media is high. At its worst, when disinformation gets published in the news media, it has the potential to reach many people who fail to be critical towards it. This thesis examines the understanding and readiness of the Finnish news media field towards visual disinformation. Although especially AI-based visual disinformation occurs in the public debate, there is hardly any scientific research on visual disinformation in the context of news media. This work aims to increase the understanding of visual disinformation as a phenomenon and provide Finnish news media with better tools and practices to tackle it. This study engages qualitative research using the grounded theory method, with 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with six Finnish news media organisations. Based on this work, it can be concluded that the Finnish news media is aware of the existence and threat of visual disinformation, but journalists don’t have sufficient resources, training and capacity to effectively deal with it due to the intensive news cycle, reliance on their professional skills, and lack of knowledge regarding suitable tools available. News media companies have undertaken concrete steps to tackle visual disinformation: media actors offer training, and few Finnish news media organisations have hired fact-checkers to assist in fact-checking, particularly concentrating on contentious war-related news content. This work contributes to a better understanding of the Finnish news media's attitude and readiness to confront visual disinformation. By examining the differences in practices and tools used among specialists and journalists, this work delves into the challenges and opportunities for effectively dealing with visual disinformation in the Finnish news media.
  • Language of Algorithms: Agency, Metaphors, and Deliberations in AI Discourses
    (2023-11) Kajava, Kaisla; Sawhney, Nitin
     A3 Kirjan tai muun kokoomateoksen osa
    Algorithmic technologies, concepts, and practices as socio-technical constructs emerge and proliferate through language in society. Discourses around Artificial Intelligence (AI) shape our collective imagination, affect technological development, and influence policymaking. What can we learn from critically examining wide-ranging discourses around AI, using a mix of qualitative methods and Natural Language Processing (NLP), both among actors who influence its development and the publics who are affected by it? In this chapter, we examine the "language of algorithms" to make sense of AI Watch reports and stakeholder responses to the proposed AI Act in the European Union. Linguistic devices such as metaphors, metonymy, and personification reveal how we conceptualize, narrate, contest, or attribute agency to AI systems. Saying that AI is “trustworthy”, “biased”, or “transforming society” are discursive acts that implicitly attribute a sense of agency to technology rather than the human actors involved in its creation. Critically examining such AI discourses reveals how language affects attitudes, influences practices and policies, and shapes future imaginaries around AI.
  • Long-term assessment of social amplification of risk during COVID-19 : challenges to public health agencies amid misinformation and vaccine stance
    (2024-04) Unlu, Ali; Truong, Sophie; Sawhney, Nitin; Sivelä, Jonas; Tammi, Tuukka
     A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
    This study employs the Social Amplification of Risk Framework to investigate the stance on COVID-19 vaccines and the spread of misinformation on Twitter in Finland. Analyzing over 1.6 million tweets and manually annotating 4150 samples, the research highlights the challenges faced by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in steering online vaccination communication. Using BERT models, Botometer, and additional computational methods, the study classifies text, identifies bot-like accounts, and detects malicious bots. Social network analysis further uncovers the underlying social structures and key actors in Twitter discussions during the pandemic. The THL remained a primary source of COVID-19 information throughout the pandemic, maintaining its influence despite challenges posed by malicious bots spreading misinformation and adopting negative vaccine stances. However, THL ceased its Twitter activity at the end of 2022 because its posts were being exploited to gain visibility and traction for misinformation and negative vaccine stance. The study also identifies key influencers in online vaccine discussions, suggesting avenues for improving public health communication. Overall, the research underscores the need to understand social media dynamics to counter misinformation and foster accurate public communication on COVID-19 and vaccination.
  • Practitioners' Perspectives on Inclusion and Civic Empowerment in Finnish Public Sector AI
    (2023-05-29) Drobotowicz, Karolina; Truong, Nghiep Lucy; Ylipulli, Johanna; Gonzalez Torres, Ana Paula; Sawhney, Nitin
     A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
    Algorithmic decision-making and big data systems are increasingly being used to provide innovative and essential services in the public sector. Such public services that utilize AI entail many related risks and responsibilities for citizens and public sector providers. Furthermore, the distinct regulatory demands and responsibilities of public sector services require crucial consideration of inclusiveness and civic empowerment. In this empirical study, we examine practitioners' attitudes, practices and challenges of implementing inclusive AI services in the public sector that can empower greater civic agency. We conducted in-depth interviews with ten practitioners responsible for managing, developing or designing AI-enabled public services across three big public organizations in Finland in domains relating to the municipality, taxes, and social insurance. The results show that the discussion on inclusion and civic empowerment is just in its beginning in the public sector. Practitioners perceive the concept of inclusion as devising accessible public services for all members of society. Civic empowerment was understood as 1) institutional transparency, 2) civic participation in shaping the services, and 3) easing the use of the services for their users. The research suggests two distinct socio-cultural constructs emerging among practitioners that may influence (or hinder) how civic empowerment is manifested in such services: expert cultures and risk-averse cultures. The contributions of the study are twofold. First, we describe the practitioners' perspectives on empowerment and inclusion in regard to public sector AI. Further, we recognize how expert and risk-averse cultures among practitioners explain their actions and restraints in devising public sector AI services.
  • Re-thinking Pedagogy and Dis-embodied Interaction for Online Learning and Co-Design
    (2021-08-15) Ylirisku, Salu; Jang, Giyong; Sawhney, Nitin
     A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
    Online courses are a key means for universities to scale up their educational offerings to wider audiences. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, many such courses that were initially designed to be given in-person, were pushed online. Instructors and their respective institutions, however, had limited knowledge of processes, practices, and tools to design high-quality learning experiences. This paper collects faculty and student experiences from a Nordic university and outlines key challenges for designing high-quality live online learning sessions. It demonstrates that, given the fundamentally different contexts for learning in digital settings, teachers need to rethink their understanding of what is possible, and engage with creative tools and pedagogical practices that support enhanced learning experiences online.
  • Role of AI Regulatory Sandboxes and MLOps for Finnish Public Sector Services
    (2023) Gonzalez Torres, Ana Paula; Sawhney, Nitin
     A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
    This paper discusses how innovations in public sector AI-based services must comply with the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) regulatory frameworks while enabling experimentation and participation of diverse stakeholders throughout the Artificial Intelligence (AI) lifecycle. The paper examines the implications of the emerging regulation, AI regulatory sandboxes and Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) as tools that facilitate compliance while enabling co-learning and active participation of multiple stakeholders. We propose a framework that fosters experimentation with automation pipelines and continuous monitoring for the deployment of future public sector AI-based services in a regulatory-compliant and technically innovative manner. AI regulatory sandboxes can be beneficial as a space for contained experimentation that goes beyond regulatory considerations to specific experimentation with the implementation of ML frameworks. While the paper presents a framework based on emerging regulations, tools and practices pertaining to the responsible use of AI, this must be validated through pilot experimentation with public and private stakeholders and regulators in different areas of high-risk AI-based services.