Dear Students,

Prof. Xiaofan Liang, an Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Taubman College is hiring a hourly student research assistant to lead one of the two AI projects during the Fall 2024 semester. You are welcome to apply for both positions that fit (see how to apply at the end). Please see the job descriptions below.

Position 1: Research Assistant on AI Policy Analysis for Local Governments

The research project aims to collect local governments' AI policies and adoption examples (e.g., AI chatbots), create a web map that serves as a central repository for local governments' AI policy and adoption sharing, and develop methods to systematically track and update policies and adoption examples over time and metrics as benchmarks for intercity comparisons. This project is an extension of a class project that has already accumulated feedback from multiple local governments (Read existing progress here; here is a resource library for AI policies at the local government level).

[On the side] I am highly motivated to work with a PhD student in the participatory AI direction starting Fall 2025. Please see my Work with Me page for details.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the project, including literature review, developing automated methods to track and update policies and adoption examples, defining metrics to analyze the policy documents, and so on.
• Develop a web map that allows users to visualize the intercity comparison metrics, and easily see what AI policies and examples that cities have adopted. The candidate will improve on this preliminary map with more advanced map aesthetics and hosting through GitHub.
• Mentor an Urban Tech major undergraduate student to assist with the work
• Draft a paper for publication
• Attend weekly meeting to discuss feedback

Preferred Qualification

• Interests in AI policies or the use of AI for public services, preferably someone who has already subscribed to information in this space.
• Interests in publishing a paper, preferably someone who is familiar with research design and has written a research paper before (a class assignment counts).
• Strong CS and programming skills and experience of developing automated download/update methods via web.
• Ability to develop web map through Mapbox JS, Leaflet JS, or equivalent web map language.

Expectation and Payment

• $15-20 per hour, 15-20 hours per week, 10 weeks in total from September to December.

Position 2: Research Assistant on Urban AI Curriculum Development