Dr Xi Wang is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield, specializing in Natural Language Processing. His research focuses on conversational AI systems, personalization techniques, retrieval-augmented generation, and fairness in AI applications. He actively contributes to the school's Natural Language Processing research group and maintains strong industry connections through publications in top-tier conferences. Dr Wang earned his PhD from the University of Glasgow under Prof. Iadh Ounis and Prof. Craig Macdonald, where he developed review text-based recommender systems. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at University College London's web intelligence group with Prof. Emine Yilmaz, focusing on knowledge-augmented task-oriented dialogue systems. His research spans critical NLP domains with emphasis on: Conversational AI: Building dialogue systems that handle complex user interactions Retrieval-Augmented Generation: Integrating external knowledge into language models Personalization: Developing adaptive systems that respect user context Fairness: Addressing bias in recommendation and dialogue systems Machine Learning: Applying advanced techniques to information retrieval challenges Analysis of Dr Wang's 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) reveals a clear trajectory toward more sophisticated conversational systems. His work increasingly integrates retrieval methods with generative models, particularly in recommendation contexts. Key trends include cold-start problem solutions, bias mitigation in conversational agents, and novel approaches to clarification question handling. The research demonstrates growing emphasis on fairness and knowledge grounding in dialogue systems. Dr Wang received a Google research workshop grant ($20,000) in 2022 for developing knowledge-enriched task-oriented dialogue systems during his postdoctoral work at UCL with Prof. Emine Yilmaz. While no current advisees are listed, Dr Wang's grant activity demonstrates research leadership. His Google-funded project focused on action-oriented dialogue systems, showing capability in securing competitive research funding. The Natural Language Processing research group at Sheffield provides his primary academic home, where he contributes to the school's strengths in speech and language technologies. His recent publications indicate active collaboration with researchers across multiple institutions including UCL, University of Glasgow, and international partners.
