Ashwin Rao

Ashwin Rao is a Research Professor at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (ISI) within the Viterbi School of Engineering. With a research career spanning over two decades, his work bridges computer science, social sciences, and political science, focusing on understanding human behavior through digital footprints. His academic journey began with signal processing research in the 1990s before evolving into network protocols and mobile computing, and most recently into computational social science and AI ethics.

Rao's research interests encompass Social Media Analysis, Online Political Polarization, Misinformation Detection, Network Protocols, Mobile Computing, Privacy in Mobile Applications, Natural Language Processing, and AI Ethics. His work demonstrates a consistent trajectory from technical networking research to the societal implications of technology. His most recent publications reveal a strong focus on understanding political discourse online, particularly examining polarization, emotional responses to events, and the impact of social media algorithms on information ecosystems. His interdisciplinary approach combines computational methods with social science theories to address pressing issues in digital society.

Rao has published extensively across top venues including ICWSM, WWW, ACL, IEEE Transactions, and numerous conferences in networking and systems. His work often appears with Kristina Lerman, with whom he collaborates closely at USC ISI. His recent research portfolio shows a sophisticated integration of machine learning techniques with social science questions, particularly examining how language models reflect and potentially amplify societal biases.

Rao has made significant contributions to understanding privacy issues in mobile applications, network protocols, and social media dynamics. His research has been influential in both technical communities studying network performance and social science communities examining online behavior. His work on BitTorrent performance, mobile privacy, and social media analysis has been widely cited across disciplines.

His laboratory work appears to focus on computational social science methodologies, developing tools and frameworks for analyzing large-scale social media data while addressing ethical considerations in AI and data analysis. Recent projects suggest strong connections with public health research through social media analysis during the pandemic.