[UG/MS] Summer Research Opportunity: Trustworthy AI/ML for Social Good

The following announcement is from [Assistant Professor Angela Zhou]. Please contact them directly if you have any questions.

Join our team on an AI for Social Good project in collaboration with a leading homelessness services nonprofit. We’re using AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze caseworker notes and evaluate the impact of street outreach interventions. You’ll help build practical tools that have a direct social impact. You can learn more about the data and some of our earlier efforts here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.10605

We are interested in improving AI summaries for our nonprofit partners for case histories. Research and methodology-wise, we are interested in connecting unreliable LLM outputs to decision-making maker uncertainty to improve factuality.

Requirements

• Strong background in machine learning, probability/statistics and interest in NLP and decision-making under uncertainty

• Enthusiasm, interest and curiosity in applying CS/AI to social good challenges.

• Sensitivity to the domain (confidential data in homelessness services)

• Interest in working with Large Language Models (LLMs) and applied NLP, especially tailoring model outputs for specialized low-resource settings.

A paid stipend is available for the summer, with the scope of work determined by milestones, and your experience and availability. For undergraduates interested in research authorship, we can discuss expanded opportunities for exploration in ongoing research projects.

This summer, you may also join the DSO Summer Scholars program for ongoing research community: https://sites.usc.edu/dsosummerscholars/ (Please apply there as well if this summer research program is of interest to you).

To apply, please fill out this form: Research Recruitment Google Form 

To learn more about our lab’s work more generally, visit: https://angelamzhou.github.io/

Published on April 9th, 2026Last updated on April 9th, 2026