Muhammad Abu Bakar Siddique

Muhammad Abu Bakar Siddique is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky, part of the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. His research focuses on natural language processing, large language models, and machine learning with particular emphasis on zero-shot learning and conversational AI systems that are safe, personalizable, and interpretable.

Dr. Siddique earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Riverside (2017-2021), his M.S. from Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan (2008-2011), and his B.S. from International Islamic University, Pakistan (2003-2008).

His research interests include:

• Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models
• Zero-shot and few-shot learning for conversational AI
• Safe, personalizable, and interpretable conversational systems
• Task-oriented dialog systems with domain generalization
• Mobile app recommendation systems
• Scalable machine learning methodologies

Dr. Siddique's publications span top venues including WWW, SIGIR, KDD, and IEEE S&P, demonstrating his focus on developing practical AI solutions that can adapt to new domains without extensive retraining. His recent work shows increasing exploration of quantum software and the intersection of AI with mobile applications.

His notable achievements include Best Paper Awards at the IEEE International Conference on Quantum Software (2025) and IEEE ICSC (2021).

Dr. Siddique has secured significant funding from the National Science Foundation:

• CPS Medium: Calfhealth: Explainable AI for Pneumonia Detection in Dairy Calves ($941,359)
• SaTC CORE: Personalized and Trustworthy Mobile App Recommendations ($300,000)
• III Small: User-Centric Task-Oriented Dialog Systems ($599,898)
• DCL EPSCOR: Distributed Edge Intelligence ($100,000)

He currently advises three PhD candidates (Adib Mosharrof, Moghis Fereidouni, and Muhammad Umair Haider) and has mentored several successful graduates. Dr. Siddique serves on program committees for major conferences including ACL, NeurIPS, ICML, and AAAI, and participates in outreach by hosting high school students through the University of Kentucky's Summer Youth Program.