Autumn 2025
Understanding Online Community Norms to Build an AI Agent
Co-Directed by PhD student Soobin Cho, Dr. Mark Zachry and Dr. David McDonald
Every online community has norms and policies that shape member behavior. This DRG focuses on Wikipedia, one of the largest examples of online collaboration, where massive collaborative efforts create encyclopedic articles supported by complex community policies. Wikipedia policies vary from relatively simple to intricate. Some policies are complex and multi-faceted making them difficult for humans to understand, presenting an opportunity for AI assistance.
In this DRG, students will gain foundational knowledge about online collaboration with a focus on Wikipedia and AI training methodologies. The core work involves collecting and conducting qualitative analysis of real cases where Wikipedia policies are applied, contributing to a dataset that will be used to train norm-aware AI agents.
We are looking for a small group of DRG participants with:
- Interest in online collaboration and online community dynamics
- Prior experience with qualitative analysis
This is a 2-credit DRG offered to undergraduate (HCDE 496) and graduate (HCDE 596) students. Everyone participating in the DRG must be registered for either HCDE 496 or 596. Students participating in this DRG will be meeting weekly on Wednesdays from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Additionally, students are expected to spend 3 to 5 additional hours per week outside of class.
Deadline: Apply for this DRG by September 19th by filling out this Google Form. We expect to select and notify participants by September 22. Please reach out to Soobin Cho through email (soobin30@uw.edu) or HCDE Slack with any questions.