Please note: This seminar will take place in DC 1302.
Hazar Harmouch, Assistant Professor of Data Engineering
Intelligent Data Engineering Lab, University of Amsterdam
In the era of artificial intelligence, the quality of data has become a central determinant of system reliability, fairness, and trust. While advances in AI promise transformative applications across domains, the benefits are critically dependent on the quality of the underlying data.
This talk explores how data quality shapes AI systems from multiple perspectives: performance, fairness, and compliance. I will discuss our work on assessing and improving data quality in machine learning pipelines, including step-by-step cleaning recommendations, quantifying diversity in datasets, and benchmarks for AI robustness under labeling noise and other data quality issues. I will also highlight our contributions to bridging the gap between technical quality assessment and human perspectives, including the development of a cross-disciplinary data quality glossary and surveying practitioners in light of the AI Act. Together, these insights point toward a more holistic view of data quality, one that incorporates not only statistical measures but also ethical, legal, and user-centered dimensions to build AI systems that are both effective and trustworthy.
Bio: Professor Harmouch is a member of the Intelligent Data Engineering Lab at the Informatics Institute of the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her research focus is on the field of data quality for and with machine learning.
Before that, she was a Postdoc at the Information Systems Group at the Hasso Plattner Institute, University of Potsdam. During her doctoral research at the same group, she worked in the field of data profiling with the aim of developing algorithms for efficiently processing and analyzing large volumes of data.
Beyond research, Professor Harmouch is also interested in keeping up with the latest developments in machine learning, data management, and integration. She is also constantly looking for new collaboration opportunities! Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, reading, cooking and training.