Postdoctoral Associate – Affective and Persuasive AI

Description

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is the world’s first AI focused university. Founded in 2020, MBZUAI started as a research-oriented graduate level university that has grown to host over 80 world-class faculty, over 330 graduate-level students, and is already ranked in the world’s top 25 by CSRankings for AI-related fields. Located in Abu Dhabi, the university aims to become a global leader in AI education and research by providing cutting-edge programs in Artificial Intelligence, empowering students to shape the future of technology. MBZUAI is committed to fostering innovation, collaboration, and ethical practices in AI to address global challenges.

About the role:

This project is a collaboration between MBZUAI and a Major Industry Partner in the UAE that aims to create a state-of-the-art Conversational Booking Agent. The agent will integrate with existing company systems, engage users naturally and effectively in English (with future expansion to Arabic), ensure safety and reliability, and provide personalized recommendations. This position focuses on the core natural language processing and developing conversational capabilities of the agent.

The Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Persuasive Language Generation will lead the development of advanced dialogue systems, focusing on developing methods to seamlessly integrate recommendations into a conversation that is sensitive to the user’s captured intent and does not degrade the conversation’s quality. The role involves eliciting user intent, adapting to user styles, and setting up an infrastructure to collect data to continually improve the quality of persuasive language generated by the agent.  The role requires a deep understanding of large language models (LLMs), conversational AI and and modeling user’s intent from a dialogue.

Key Responsibilites:

• Apply NLP techniques to recognize user intent across text and potentially voice inputs, optimizing conversation flows to adapt dynamically to the user’s style and ensure smooth transitions and task completion.
• Research and implement methods for maintaining conversational coherence and effectively embedding past discussion context to interpret multi-turn interactions.
• Implement NLP models that elicit user preferences and recognize emotions (e.g., frustration, satisfaction), enabling the agent to adjust its tone and responses to suit the emotional state of the user.
• Use user-centered design methods (such as A/B testing, user interviews, and usability studies) to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the agent’s conversational interface, ensuring that it aligns with user expectations and preferences.
• Work with data scientists and engineers to integrate the conversational module with backend systems and user interfaces.
• Stay updated on the latest research in conversational AI, dialogue systems.
• Publish research findings in top-tier conferences and journals.

Qualifications

PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field with a focus on Natural Language Processing and Conversational AI.

Minimum:

• Experience in developing and evaluating dialogue systems or conversational agents.
• Strong background in conversational AI, including experience with intent classification, contextual understanding, and multi-turn dialogue systems.
• Proficiency in working with deep learning frameworks.
• Experience with emotion detection, sentiment analysis, and tailoring conversational tone based on user feedback or emotional state.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Strong analytical skills and experience working with user interaction data.
• Track record of relevant publications in leading NLP/HCI conferences or journals.    

Preferred:

• Experience with bilingual or multilingual NLP models.
• Familiarity with evaluation methods for conversational interfaces.
• Experience working in collaborative, multi-disciplinary research projects.

What we offer: 

• Opportunity to work on a high-impact, industry-relevant research project.
• A stimulating research environment at MBZUAI with leading experts in AI.
• Competitive compensation and benefit package aligned with top-tier academic markets
• Opportunities for professional development and conference travel.

Application Instructions

Interested candidates should submit the following:

• Cover letter
• Current Curriculum Vitae (C.V.)
• Link to Google Scholar
• Statement of research vision and interests (optional)

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled.  

For more information or to apply, please visit  MBZUAI Careers or contact us directly at NLP.IndustryProject@mbzuai.ac.ae.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.