SurveyCTO Presentation Series: Principle-driven Innovation: AI@SurveyCTO

In this webinar, Dr. Christopher Robert and SurveyCTO CEO Lawrence Li take you behind the scenes to explore our user-centered and principle-driven AI roadmap. Starting from the early days of machine learning at SurveyCTO and discussing the impact of GenAI on survey research, the webinar will then lead into a conversation on the creation of the SurveyCTO AI Assistant—and the evaluation framework for survey research AI that came out of that process. If you’re interested in innovative technology and want to learn how AI can be designed to make a positive impact, this webinar is for you!

At SurveyCTO, improving data quality is a guiding principle for us. That’s why we’re constantly innovating on new ways to help you collect your best data ever. Our work with AI is no different. In collaboration with our partners at Higher Bar AI (HBAI), we strive to leverage exciting advances in AI technology in order to create tools that support better-quality data collection. HBAI is a public benefit corporation and endeavor of SurveyCTO founder Dr. Christopher Robert that creates Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to scale best-in-class data collection work and custom solutions that accelerate quantitative and qualitative empirical research methods.

Dobility, the company that powers SurveyCTO, has been pioneering the use of innovative technology in survey research for a long time. We’ve done this by building automated quality checks into the SurveyCTO platform, and by working on a machine learning for quality control roadmap that helped inform the development of our review and corrections workflow and device sensor meta-data functionality. Long before anyone had heard of ChatGPT, we have been looking at ways to create AI-based survey tools that would truly improve data quality for users, all while respecting our high standards and staying true to our core guiding principles, which include data security and data quality. The release of the SurveyCTO AI Assistant chatbot to our main website in the summer of 2024 was one major step along our AI roadmap. With the Assistant, users can now get direct help with learning the platform, designing forms, or managing their SurveyCTO accounts. But there’s much more to come from AI at SurveyCTO. This month, we’ll release new AI tools designed to further enhance data quality by reviewing forms, coding expressions, and offering suggestions to improve your survey questions.

Dr. Robert is a seasoned technologist and entrepreneur dedicated to building for social good. He started his career developing online interactive games and building both software and hardware for online bulletin board systems. His path shifted towards social impact after extensive experience in developing countries. Under his leadership, Dobility has empowered over 2,000 teams in 160 countries to gather high-quality data for impactful policy and program evaluations. Dr. Robert holds a doctorate from Harvard University with a focus on economics and empirical methods.

Lawrence currently serves as the President & CEO of Dobility, focused on scaling its impact and allowing the organization to bring affordable, high-quality data collection to a growing set of users and contexts. Prior to Dobility, Lawrence built extensive experience as an investor in both private and public markets. He started his career with the Boston Consulting Group after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech.