CSUSB student research teams had four papers accepted for presentation at the IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing, a prestigious international conference focused on the integration of data, semantics and artificial intelligence. This year’s conference was highly competitive, with more than 250 submissions and an acceptance rate of 19.6 percent.

Led by Jennifer Jin, associate professor of computer science and faculty lead on the projects, and Yunfei Hou, professor of computer science, the papers covered timely topics in artificial intelligence, including large language models (LLMs), coordinated AI agents, code retrieval and interpretable affective reasoning. CSUSB student participants included Shaun Colegado, Vishwa Bhatt, Dylan M. Diaz, Jerry Cervantes Fernandez, Manasi Vidyanand and Bryan Vera. The research highlights CSUSB’s growing impact in artificial intelligence and semantic computing through faculty-led student research.

“In the AI age, we should try and practice more rather than overthinking or trying to predict the future,” said Jin. “These student teams learned by building, testing and refining ideas that move us toward more capable and more responsible AI.”

The projects reflect strong interdisciplinary collaboration. In addition to computer science students, the research involved students from the School of Cyber and Decision Sciences and the William and Barbara Leonard Transportation Center, part of the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration.

“We are glad to see our students and faculty actively contributing to cutting-edge AI research on an international stage,” said Sastry G. Pantula, dean of the College of Natural Sciences. “These accomplishments reflect the strength of our programs and the dedication of our faculty mentors. Our future is brighter because of these outstanding students and faculty who are committed to their success.”

The achievement highlights the importance of collaboration across CSUSB’s academic colleges.

“Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for meaningful advances in artificial intelligence,” said Tomás Gómez-Arias, dean of the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration. “We will continue to support partnerships that bring together diverse expertise to address complex, real-world AI challenges.”

The annual IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing, held Feb. 2-4 this year, brings together researchers and practitioners to advance semantic computing and related AI methods, including efforts to bridge modern machine learning with classic AI approaches, such as reasoning, planning and problem solving.