Paulo Shakarian joins the College of Engineering and Computer Science as the first appointed K.G. Tan Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Shakarian previously worked at Arizona State University, where he was a tenured professor and later the Research Director in the School of Computing and AI. He brings over 10 years of expertise in logic programming, data mining, and work at the intersection of AI and security. Get to know Shakarian as he discusses his career path, his research interests, and his role in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Tell us about yourself and what brought you to Syracuse University!
My name is Paulo Shakarian, and I have been in various academic positions for the past 14 years. I started my academic career as an Assistant Professor at West Point in 2011 and then moved to Arizona State in 2014, where I earned tenure and later became the Research Director for ASU’s School of Computing and AI. I have now joined Syracuse as the inaugural KG Tan Endowed Professor of Artificial Intelligence.
What sparked your interest in teaching at Syracuse University?
Syracuse University has a long history of excellence in artificial intelligence. For example, my Ph.D. advisor, V.S. Subrahmanian, is a product of Syracuse, earning his doctorate in the late 1980s. But beyond its storied past, Syracuse has become a key player in the field, with a string of very impressive faculty hires over the past decade.
The university is also extremely well situated with a lot of organizations I have worked with in the past being a short drive away – such as AFRL (Rome), KitWare (Clifton Park), GE Research (Schenectady), IBM TJ Watson (Yorktown Heights), not to mention many other partners in NYC and the growing relationship with Micron.
Beyond the professional aspect, New York State has always been a special place to me, as I have earned my undergraduate degree and spent three years teaching in the Hudson Valley area.
What are your research interests?
Broadly, I work on artificial intelligence, and over the years, this has included logic programming, data mining, and work at the intersection of AI and security. Lately, I have become interested in a concept I have been referring to as “metacognitive AI.” In cognitive psychology, metacognition refers to the ability to monitor one’s own thought processes and allocate mental resources. Today’s AI mainstream systems, even the most advanced ones, do not exhibit this capability in any significant way. Some cognitive psychologists believe that metacognition plays a key role in helping humans decide when to engage more substantial mental resources.
A hypothesis that I am exploring is how we can develop metacognitive “cues” or “conditions” that can tell us when an AI system must engage more substantial resources – such as automated reasoning. One way to approach this is with a set of techniques known as “neuro-symbolic AI,” which allows for the integration between neural models and logic programming. Along those lines, we have developed PyReason, a temporal logic programming framework, that we designed to support neuro-symbolic applications.
What are you most excited about in your role as a faculty member?
I think all the dimensions of being a faculty member interplay with each other – teaching, research, and service. There is interplay among all three, and I always felt that if you are doing things properly, each area can lead to success in the others. The other thing I am really excited about is establishing a new series of collaborative relationships in my department, as well as starting to collaborate with others across the university.
What advice do you have for students?
I think the key thing is to not be afraid of working hard – but doing so in a very focused way. It seems that the students who consistently work hard and focus always win out. The students who may not understand a concept the first time they see it, but doggedly pursue figuring it out will eventually rise to the top.
What are some things you like to do for fun?
I like to read, workout and spend time with my family. We are really looking forward to spending a lot of time in the various parks and natural wonders of the Finger Lakes region.