2021 KDD Workshop on Understanding
Public Perceptions for Applied Data Science

The ACM Special Interest Group on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (SIGKDD) organised its flagship conference KDD 2021 virtually from August 14 – 18, 2021. In conjunction with KDD 2021, the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk (IPUR) and the Korea Policy Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (KPC4IR) organised the 2021 KDD Workshop on Understanding Public Perceptions for Applied Data Science (UPP4DS). 

The workshop featured two panel sessions and a series of presentations on the importance of experts understanding the public perceptions of risk and how data scientists can better work with implementation partners to better understand end-users and address concerns which may
inhibit adoption. One highlight was the presentation of the “Using Artificial Intelligence to Support Healthcare Decisions: A Guide for Society”. The project team, consisting of Dr. Cornelius Kalenzi (KPC4IR), Dr. Hyeon Dae (Heidi) Rha (KPC4IR), Nathaniel Tan (IPUR) and Dr. Moonjung Yim, (KPC4IR) spoke about the guide’s development process and objectives. The full workshop summary can be accessed here. 

Research on AI is often approached from the angle of making AI more reliable, accurate, explainable, and actionable. These outcomes contribute towards the broader objectives of making AI more trustworthy to facilitate its adoption and use. UPP4DS seeks to approach the concept of AI trustworthiness from the perspective of the public as end-users. With healthcare as the context, this workshop invites world-leading experts in applied data science, healthcare, public policy, and social sciences to examine the role of public trust and public engagement in the development of healthcare AI applications.