Advait Sarkar

Affiliations & appointments

Current

• Affiliated lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge (2018—present)
• Fellow, Darwin College Cambridge (2017—present)
• Member, University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) (2015—present)
• Member, Cambridge Big Data Strategic Research Initiative (2014—present)

Past

• I served on the selection committee for the Darwin College Microsoft Research Fellowships in 2018.
• I served on the awards committee for the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research in 2017-2018.
• I was a fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (2014—2018)
• I served on the executive committee of the Cambridge University LGBT campaign as Computing Officer in 2010-2011.
• I served on the executive committee of the Cambridge University Scientific Society (SciSoc) as Director for Information Technology for two terms between 2009 and 2011.

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Policy and outreach

• March 2018: I gave a talk titled 'Artificial Intelligence: let's lose the hype and think practically' at TEDx Cambridge University 2018.
• June 2017: I participated in a Cambridge mathematics workshop on the future of the national mathematics curriculum.
• May 2017: I participated in the 2017 annual CSAR debate: This house believes that Artificial Intelligence / Robotics will make us happier. I seconded the opposition, which was the winning side.
• March 2017: I gave a one-on-one policy meeting with Dr Steve Smith (Head of Science, Committee on Climate Change) to discuss the role of machine learning as part of the problem and solution to the emissions problem, low-emission innovation, and energy demands of future homes and buildings.
• February 2017: I participated in the CSaP workshop on future of mobility, a half-day panel discussion in assistance of a Foresight Project on the future of mobility being undertaken by the Government Office for Science.
• May 2016: I gave a talk titled 'When artificial stupidity takes over the world', as part of the 2016 Pint of Science festival. The talk was a friendly introduction to AI for a public audience and the venue sold out several weeks in advance.
• April 2016: I was interviewed by Cambridge TV (link to video) about the growth and challenges surrounding machine learning. We discussed the recent defeat of Lee Sedol, champion Go player, by the AlphaGo artificial intelligence, as well as issues of interpretability and accountability.
• January 2016: I gave a one-on-one policy meeting with Sophie Odenthal (at that time Advisor to the Behavioural Insights Team, currently Advisor to Her Majesty's Treasury) to discuss the use of data analytics to improve the uptake and quality of education.

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Conference and journal service

Organising committee
• Co-chair, Explainable Smart Systems, IUI 2019
• Co-chair, VL/HCC 2017
• Co-chair, VL/HCC 2016

Program committee
• Program committee, VL/HCC 2019
• Program committee, IUI 2019
• Program committee, OzCHI 2018 (short papers)
• Program committee, CHI 2018 (late-breaking work)
• Program committee, IUI 2018
• Program committee, VL/HCC 2017
• Program committee, PPIG 2016

Session chair
• Session chair, VL/HCC 2018
• Session chair, VL/HCC 2016
• Session chair, PPIG 2016

Reviewer
• Reviewer, TIIS, 2017
• Reviewer, PPIG 2017
• Reviewer, CHI 2017 (papers, workshops, late-breaking work) (🏆 Excellent reviewer recognition)
• Reviewer, VL/HCC 2017
• Reviewer, CHI 2016 (papers)
• Reviewer, PPIG 2016
• Reviewer, Eurographics 2016
• Reviewer, Knowledge-Based Systems, 2016
• Reviewer, British HCI 2015