Generative AI for Data Visualization and Analysis

Speaker: Dr. Aoyu WU
         PostDoc Fellow, Harvard University
         and
         CSE Best PhD Dissertation Award (2021-22) Recipient
         Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Title:  "Generative AI for Data Visualization and Analysis"

Host:   Prof. Kai Chen

Date:   Monday, 8 May 2023

Time:   4:00pm - 5:00pm

Venue:  Lecture Theater F (Leung Yat Sing Lecture Theater)
        near lift 25/26, HKUST

Abstract:

In today's data-driven world, visualization plays a crucial role in 
analyzing and communicating information. Professionals ranging from 
business analysts to academic researchers need to explore and narrate data 
stories, but many encounter obstacles when creating custom, expressive 
visualizations. In this presentation, I will discuss a research initiative 
that utilizes AI techniques to efficiently generate and analyze data 
visualizations. Building upon concurrent research, I will delve into an 
investigation of large language models' (various versions of GPT) 
capabilities in generating data visualizations. Throughout the discussion, 
I will highlight novel and intriguing phenomena, as well as potential 
modes of human-LLM interaction observed during the experiment. To 
conclude, I will propose several research directions that aim to further 
democratize data visualization and analysis and discuss the implications 
of human-LLM interaction.


*******************
Biography:

Aoyu WU is a PostDoc Fellow at Harvard, advised by Prof. Fernanda Vias and 
Prof. Martin Wattenberg in the Insight and Interaction Lab. In addition, 
he is a teaching assistant at Harvard Business School. Aoyu's research is 
centered on human-computer interaction and data visualization. He is 
particularly invested in designing and evaluating intelligent, interactive 
systems that facilitate the creation of data visualizations for 
communication, data analysis, and data-driven decision-making. His work 
has garnered numerous industrial and academic accolades, including the 
Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship, Hong Kong ICT Award, Asia- Pacific ICT 
Award, and ACM CHI 2022 Honorable Mention, and has been featured in media 
outlets such as SCMP and Tai Kung Pao.

His Ph.D. thesis addresses the growing public demand for access to and 
analysis of data. As data visualizations have become a primary medium for 
public data communication, the rapid increase in their use has led to 
challenges in readability and quality. Aoyu's thesis explores these issues 
through a comprehensive blend of research methods, including literature 
reviews, empirical studies, and machine learning techniques. He 
specifically concentrates on developing innovative recommendation systems 
for creating high-quality visualizations and formalizing visualizations as 
a new first-class object for efficient analysis. By combining these two 
approaches, his dissertation contributes to a novel online knowledge 
ecosystem that both extracts knowledge from web visualizations and aids 
the public in generating new visualizations to convey data.