【Article by IMICS】
Dr. Sunny Xun Liu, the Research Director of Stanford Social Media Lab, served as the guest lecturer for the IMICS New Media Convergence course, invited by Professor Trisha Lin, the Director of the Master’s Program in Global Communication and Innovative Technology (GCIT). Through online teaching, she gave two guest lectures about cutting-edge social robots and generative AI on March 27 and April 10, 2024. Her insightful and engaging talks allowed students to explore the trending topics in emerging media areas.

“This might be the most international class I have ever taught,“ remarked Dr. Liu, expressing her excitement to meet students from diverse backgrounds. In her first lecture, she covered three studies encompassing social robot census, understanding older adults with numbers, and words. Dr. Liu initiated the lecture by introducing the definition of social robots and two psychological frameworks to study humans—perceived warmth and perceived competence—to study social robots. Through a breakout activity, students applied the theoretical framework to find the warmest and most competent social robots, gaining insights into important physical features of robots influencing perceived warmth and competence.

Moving on, Dr. Liu broke down her qualitative survey study on social robots and older adults who do not have any resources to take care of themselves. Students engaged in a discussion about whether the perceived warmth and competency of social robots would lead to concerns or reduce them. Appreciating students’ answers and questions, she mentioned that social robots lead to hope and enthusiasm, but the better the technology, the more socially and psychologically vulnerable people may feel. The last period was qualitative focus group research with a similar topic, and students shared their interview assignment results in class.

The second lecture by Dr. Liu began with the students presenting their assignments on generative AI experiences. Samantha, a second-year student at GCIT, shared her experience using ChatGPT for her language learning, noting its effectiveness despite its inability to check accents. The lecture further explored generative AI and its impact on mental health, covering the related important concepts such as LLM (Large Language Model), LMM (Large Multimodal Model), and prompt engineering. Breakout activities encouraged student engagement and discussion on generative AI. Rose, a first-year student at IMICS, highlighted a generative AI’s pronunciation-checking function in a language learning app named ‘Elsa Speak’. For the last period of the class, Dr. Liu concluded by touching on two papers regarding LLM's applications in mental health and chatbot design, highlighting its role in addressing mental health issues.

In reflection, Rose expressed her satisfaction with Dr. Liu’s classes. “I liked Dr. Liu’s lessons and the way she interacted with class,” Rose added that she was especially impressed by her studies on senior citizens in rural areas, which showed profound practical implications. Despite the virtual class setting, she said the interactions through discussions were very stimulating and interesting.

The New Media Convergence course is designed to assist students in acquiring both theoretical and hands-on understanding of emerging media technologies and research techniques. It specifically focuses on how these technologies influence audiences and industries. Through the application of the acquired knowledge to their final research projects, students have the opportunity to further refine their research-related skills. Funded by the Office of International Cooperation (OIC), the course has invited three co-instructors including Stanford University’s Dr. Sunny Liu, National University of Singapore’s Associate Professor Natalie Pang, and Nanyang Technological University’s Professor Edson Tandoc.