I am a Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, working with Prof. Aaditeshwar Seth in the ICTD lab. I am currently working on 1) Tracking Socio-economic Development in Rural India Using Satellite Imagery 2) Identification of water bodies, plantations, and cropfields from Google maps.
Before this, I was a Project Scientist in the Vision Lab at IIT Delhi, working with Prof. Nandana Sengupta and Prof. Chetan Arora. I worked on investigating possibilities of automated estimation of household-level economic variables – income and assets, typically measured using a detailed household survey.
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in AI for social good and Human-centered computing. Through my research, I want to make a meaningful impact. Specifically, I’m interested in:
- How can we promote social well-being of people in low-resource environments?
- How can we use AI for a more rewarding and easier path to innovations in Sustainability, Public Health, and Forest and Animal Conservation?
I often think about how there aren’t enough people from different backgrounds in academia, leading me to reflect on how homogenized groups can influence ideas and research in the field of AI. Through my research I want to address this bias by exploring the following questions:
- How can we identify bias and harm in downstream applications making AI more inclusive?
- How can we ensure and enhance privacy considerations in AI applications?
Education
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Delhi University following which I pursued my Master’s degree in Computer Science from South Asian University (SAU), focusing on advanced topics in Machine Learning. At SAU, I worked with Prof. Reshma Rastogi for my thesis, which addressed the persistent challenge of data imbalance in Multi-Label datasets using Generative Adversarial Networks.
When I am not working, I cook, travel, and eat. I look forward to connecting with fellow researchers, professors, and industry professionals and I am always open to having a discussion on AI. If you are interested, feel free to reach out via email (aatif[dot]dar11[at]gmail.com) or Twitter!