Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Media Coverage

Quanta: Improving deep learning with a little help from physics

Apr 28, 2025

CS alumna Rose Yu, now a professor at UCSD was featured for her efforts to make AI faster. Her work with Cyrus Shahabi is mentioned.

USC News: At ShowCAIS 2025 symposium, Trojans showcase the benefits of AI for social good

Apr 17, 2025

Undergraduate and graduate students from across the university demonstrated how artificial intelligence can have a positive impact on the world.

You are invited to a private screening of Cloudwalkers

Mar 03, 2025

03.11.2025 – 4pm – Ginsburg Hall

USC Annenberg Media: Meet USC’s Newest Rising Star: Ginsburg Hall

Feb 12, 2025

The Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall has taken the internet by storm.

Banana Trees to Fight Wildfires

Jan 23, 2025

According to a new study, fire buffers composed of banana trees could slow and calm wildfires and generate profit for residents of fire-prone regions

Silicon Republic: Google claims AI model Genie 2 can generate interactive worlds

Dec 08, 2024

Sean Ren was quoted about how AI affects copyright infringement.

ABC7 (no link available): Election Security Concerns

Nov 10, 2024

Cliff Neuman was interviewed on election day about cyber attacks, AI and misinformation and how this could affect the election process.

Interesting Engineering/Yahoo News: Researchers develop low-cost system to detect wildfires within seconds of ignition

Nov 10, 2024

A paper authored by Xiao Fu, Barath Raghavan, Peter Bereel, Yue Hu and Prashanth Sutrave was highlighted.

CalMatters: California students want careers in AI. Here’s how colleges are meeting that demand

Nov 03, 2024

Neno Medvidović was interviewed about a new AI major that the School of Advanced Computing is developing.

CSN Monitor: How AI deepfakes test voter confidence and election integrity

Oct 20, 2024

Emilio Ferrara was interviewed about the incredible volume of ai-generated data this election cycle

Andrew Viterbi builds on a lifetime of innovation and giving

Oct 17, 2024

Viterbi’s $10 million gift boosts USC President Carol Folt’s Frontiers of Computing “moonshot” by funding the hiring of new faculty at the intersections of advanced computing and other academic disciplines.

Spectrum News: How a USC student helped build an AI system that helps gage public sentiment towards homelessness

Oct 13, 2024

PhD Jaspreet Ranjit and advisor Swabha Swayamdipta were interviewed about their work and the potential for AI to help address societal challenges.

AM Chronicle: Grant to fund 3D-printed high-performance ceramics project

Oct 13, 2024

Priya Vashishta and Aiichiro Nakano were mentioned for their involvement in a MURI project on 3D-printed high-performance ceramics.

The Atlantic (subscription required): Shh, ChatGPT. That’s a Secret.

Oct 06, 2024

Jonathan Gratch was quoted about our interactions with virtual agents.

MassRobotics: MassRobotics Announces Recipient of 2024 Robotics Medal Recognizing Accomplishments of Women in Robotics

Sep 29, 2024

Heather Culbertson received the Rising Star in Robotics Medal for her research on haptics

Out Of Options: The Drugs Don’t Work. Therapy Doesn’t Work. What’s Left?

Sep 26, 2024

An NIH-backed collaboration between USC engineers and doctors provides hope for patients with severe depression and other mood disorders.

USC celebrates opening of Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall

Sep 19, 2024

The new building is home to the USC School of Advanced Computing and central to USC President Carol Folt’s historic Frontiers of Computing “moonshot.”

KTLA: USC Researchers Tapping into Surfing to Relieve Chronic Pain

Sep 08, 2024

Heather Culbertson and Jason Kutch were interviewed about their project using simulated surfing to address chronic pain

Chronicle of Higher Education: The AI Hiring Spree

Sep 08, 2024

Article references USC’s Frontiers of Computing and effort to attract new faculty

Wall Street Journal: Colleges Race to Ready Students for the AI Workplace

Aug 11, 2024

The joint Business of AI degree with USC Marshall was highlighted along with the ITP AI applications minor.

Association for Computing Machinery: Maja Matarić Receives ACM Athena Lecturer Award

May 22, 2024

Maja Matarić receives ACM Athena Lecturer Award for groundbreaking contributions in distributed robotics, multi-robot coordination, and socially assistive robotics

Andrea Hodge and Gaurav Sukhatme Elected 2023 AAAS Fellows

Apr 18, 2024

Hodge and Sukhatme join more than 40 USC peers previously inducted to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a distinguished lifetime honor

CBS News: Fung Finds a New Life from “Swim with Mike”

Apr 07, 2024

USC Viterbi data science master’s student Natalie Fung was interviewed about how she persevered after an accident and how the Swim with Mike scholarship allowed her to attend graduate school.

CNET: Hallucinations: Why AI Makes Stuff Up, and What’s Being Done About It

Apr 07, 2024

Professor Swayamdipta explained AI hallucinations and suggested the implementation of standards to address them.

WIRED: 8 Google Employees Invented Modern AI

Mar 31, 2024

Alumni Ashish Vaswani and Niki Parmar were highlighted in an article that highlighted the authors of “Attention Is All You Need”

USC Institute for Creative Technologies: The Email Which Changed My Life

Mar 26, 2024

An essay from Jacki Morie, one of the founding research scientists of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies from 1999 to 2013.

Scientific American: Scientists Are Putting ChatGPT Brains Inside Robot Bodies

Feb 25, 2024

Jesse Thomason of USC Viterbi and PhD student, Ishika Singh, were highlighted for their work to help robots complete real-world tasks.

Sustainability Next: AI Can Reduce Poaching, Help Conservation

Feb 25, 2024

Bistra Dilkina was interviewed about her use of AI to predict sea-level rise, protect biodiversity and prevent poaching

Department of Commmerce: Biden-Harris Administration Announces First-Ever Consortium Dedicated to AI Safety

Feb 11, 2024

USC was announced as an inaugural member of a new DOC consortium dedicated to AI safety; Yolanda Gil will lead the effort from USC

Economic Times: Using AI tools, we are exploring if linguistic ability can mediate cognitive decline

Feb 11, 2024

Shri Narayanan spoke with ET Healthworld about USC health research collaborations in India involving AI tools as well as other opportunities for AI in health

‘A powerhouse director for a powerhouse school’: USC celebrates inauguration of School of Advanced Computing director

Feb 08, 2024

Professor Gaurav Sukhatme, “a thoughtful and responsible innovator,” was installed as the inaugural director of the university’s 23rd school during a Wednesday ceremony on the University Park Campus.

USC Launches School of Advanced Computing

Feb 01, 2024

Gaurav Sukhatme has been appointed the school’s inaugural director for the “school within a school”

NPR: AI has become a tool in climate in search for climate solutions

Jan 07, 2024

Yolanda Gil was interviewed about her work with using AI for controlled burns and preventing wildfire.

Hindustan Times: USC Viterbi School of Engineering Unveiled: A conversation with Professor Gaurav Sukhatme

Dec 17, 2023

Executive Vice Dean Gaurav Sukhatme was interviewed about the opportunities at USC Viterbi for international students including in AI, robotics and space.

IEEE Spectrum : A Bold New Plan for Preserving Online Privacy and Security

Nov 10, 2023

Barath Raghavan, an associate professor in computer science, proposes a plan to take cloud security into our own hands by decoupling our identities from our data.

NPR: New proteins, better batteries: Scientists are using AI to speed up discoveries

Oct 15, 2023

Yolanda Gil was interviewed about AI’s potential to advance scientific research

USC News: USC selected by Department of Defense for Microelectronics Commons hub

Sep 20, 2023

The university will lead one of eight regional innovation hubs funded by the CHIPS and Science Act.

Intel: Swabha Swayamdipta Receives Intel 2023 Rising Star Award

Sep 20, 2023

Swabha Swayamdipta, an assistant professor of computer science, is among 15 early-career academic researchers selected by Intel this year.

The Economist: Could AI transform science itself?

Sep 17, 2023

Yolanda Gil tells The Economist that cross-disciplinary research will become more common due to AI

LA Times: These family robots can play trivia and act as security. Can they cure loneliness?

Aug 06, 2023

Maja Matarić was interviewed about the potential for socially assistive robotics

WIRED Middle East: Robots are teaching other robots to learn more stuff

Aug 06, 2023

New research by Laurent Itti and Ph.D. student Yunhao Ge was featured.

The Conversation: Emilia Ferrara Explains How To Tame Bias in AI

Jul 26, 2023

Computer Science Professor Emilio Ferrara explains why blindly eliminating biases in AI can have unintended consequences. Instead, he says, bias in AI can be controlled to achieve a higher goal: fairness.

Politico: Artificial Intelligence Can’t Work Without Our Data

Jul 07, 2023

Barath Raghavan and co-author Bill Schneier suggest an “AI Dividend”

Github ReadMe Project: Coding Accessibility: Disability as Catalyst for Creativity

Jun 28, 2023

Computer science student Paul Chiou’s research focuses on automatically finding and fixing keyboard accessibility issues in both web and Android apps.

Brainchip: Podcast With USC Professor Gaurav Sukhatme On Innovation In AI, Robotics & Autonomy

Jun 25, 2023

Executive Vice Dean Gaurav Sukhatme was interviewed about his career trajectory and the state of the robotics field

Spectrum News : USC invests $1 billion into advancing computing research

Jun 25, 2023

Dean Yortsos and PhD student Emily Nguyen were featured about the FOC Initiative, Nguyen discussed her work applying AI towards treatments for ovarian cancer.

New York Times: How Sexist is Hollywood?

Jun 25, 2023

The SAIL Lab was mentioned as a collaborator with the Geena Davis Institute to address bias through media intelligence

LA Business Journal: Cyber Crusaders

Jun 25, 2023

Cliff Neuman was quoted on network security.

Spectrum News : Robots Deployed to Fight Toxic Alage

May 21, 2023

Isabel Rayas and Christopher Denniston were interviewed about their work in the Robotics Embedded Systems Lab

Dot.LA: USC Invests $1 Billion in New Computing School to Teach Ethical AI Use

May 14, 2023

Dean Yortsos was interviewed about “Frontiers of Computing” and how “Computer science, data sciences and AI have become essentially an extension of the original fundamentals.”

Wall Street Journal: How AI will change the workplace

May 14, 2023

Jon Gratch shared his research on how interacting with an AI changes human behavior

KABC: USC Wants to Prepare Students for the Future of AI

May 14, 2023

Cyrus Shahabi was interviewed about how AI can address LA’s problems and the Frontiers of Computing Initiative

Forbes: University of Southern California Launches $1 Billion Advanced Computing Initiative

May 07, 2023

Forbes highlighted FOC and quoted Dean Yortsos saying “The world needs engineers and computer scientists to solve the grand challenges we face.”

USC News: USC launches $1B-plus initiative in advanced computing

May 04, 2023

Viterbi to create a School of Advanced Computing and rename the Computer Science Department for benefactor Thomas Lord

NPR: For Earth Day, Faculty Talk Sustainability Research on “Academic Minute”

Apr 21, 2023

Research by Bistra Dilkina, Thomas Petersen and Essam Heggy was featured.

American Academy of Arts & Sciences: Maja Matarić Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Apr 19, 2023

Expert in socially assistive robotics joins leaders selected from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research, and science

WIRED: ChatGPT Email Scams

Apr 16, 2023

Wired published a piece by Barath Raghavan and a colleague

Scientific American: How to Tell If a Photo Is an AI-Generated Fake

Apr 02, 2023

Wael Abd Almageed spoke to SA about the state of detection for AI generated images

Los Angeles Business Journal: USC Launches AI Research Center

Mar 26, 2023

This article mentions that Bill Swartout will co-lead the new Center on Generative AI.

The Guardian: Venmo users on discovering secrets on the app

Mar 19, 2023

A study conducted by experts at USC found that two in five Venmo users publicly revealed sensitive information

Apple Machine Learning Research: Computer Science Student Named 2023 Apple Scholar in AI/ML

Mar 08, 2023

Published on March 8th, 2023Last updated on May 16th, 2024

VICE: ChatGPT and Essays

Mar 05, 2023

Swabha Swayamdipta discussed the status of large language models.

OfficeChai: The Indian Researchers Whose Work Led To The Creation Of ChatGPT

Feb 27, 2023

The article mentions USC Viterbi computer science alumni, Ashish Vaswani and Niki Parmar, are key contributors to the research that led to ChatGPT

ARSTechnica: Twitter ditches free access to data

Feb 12, 2023

Kristina Lerman was interviewed about the effects of Twitter API change on scientific research

The Conversation: ChatGPT is great – you’re just using it wrong

Feb 05, 2023

Jonathan May contributed a piece on possible uses of ChatGPT

IEEE Signal Processing Magazine : Signal Processing Comes to the Senses

Feb 01, 2023

A haptic texture detection method developed by computer science doctoral student Shihan Lu, advised by Heather Culbertson, is featured in IEEE.

Philadelphia Inquirer: AI tools can create new images, but who is the real artist

Jan 29, 2023

Wael Abd-Almageed commenting on A.I. generated art and other content.

MIT Tech Review : We Could Run Out of Data To Train AI Language Programs

Jan 26, 2023

Swabha Swayamdipta, an assistant professor of computer science, discusses ways to overcome data constraints for large language models.

Quanta : The Computer Scientist Who Finds Life Lessons in Games

Jan 25, 2023

Quanta interviews Shang-Hua Teng, a USC computer science professor who has twice won the Gödel Prize, a top honor in theoretical computer science, but often explores playful applications, like board games.

Toronto Star: These AI images look just like me.

Jan 15, 2023

Wael Abd Almageed was quoted about the future of deepfakes

NBCLA: Does Your Middle-Class Tax Refund Debit Card Have a $0 Balance?

Jan 15, 2023

Cybersecurity expert Cliff Neuman was interviewed about how cards might be compromised

LA Times: Is ChatGPT a marvel or a farce?

Dec 11, 2022

Jesse Thomason was interviewed about the significance of ChatbotGPT

NPR: Today’s interactive Google Doodle honors Jerry Lawson, a pioneer of modern gaming

Dec 04, 2022

The story mentions the USC Games’ Gerald A. Lawson Fund that was set up at USC Games to support the next generation of gamers

Yahoo!: Forget Spotify Wrapped, here’s how to make your own Spotify festival lineup

Dec 04, 2022

Computer Science student Anshay Saboo was featured in various outlets after launching his app Instafest, that went viral.

Google: Using AI to study 12 years of representation in TV

Nov 27, 2022

The latest report from Google, the USC SAIL Lab and Geena Davis Institute on media representation was highlighted.

KTLA: Dark Patterns

Nov 27, 2022

Cliff Neuman was interviewed about dark patterns and what consumers could do to protect themselves against online marketing practices.

AI Hub: Designing Better Voting Systems, With a Little Help From the Animal World

Oct 28, 2022

Taking a cue from the animal world, USC researchers discovered a simple voting rule that optimally reflects voters’ opinions about candidates. Lead author Fatih Kizilkaya, a computer science doctoral student, discusses the IJCAI Distinguished Paper Award-winning work.

Thomas Lord Department of Computer ScienceMedia Coverage

Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Media Coverage