IRT Group at AI Institute - Univ of South Carolina

05/01/2026

A peek at the AIISC ecosystem and resulting ICML2026 publication!

In the last few years, many local and international undergrads have interned with my Gurukul. An overwhelming number of them are motivated to gain experience in conducting high-end AI research, culminating in coauthoring papers in high-quality venues. A majority of the typical 40-60 publications ann...

04/24/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ritvikg_ai-machinelearning-undergraduateresearch-share-7453424050468564992-A_pl?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=android_app&rcm=ACoAAAAAZ2YB886_WgrdhXkhRpqDG83-3hw8Npk&utm_campaign=copy_link

𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱. 𝗧𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽? This was the question that Kevin Do, an undergrad at the IRT group @ AI Institute ...

04/22/2026

The Dissertation Defense of Joey Yip will be remembered for a long time. My 40th Ph.D. student successfully defended on Monday. A sense in the committee was that this was worth two dissertations! 50+ online attendees. A comprehensive list of contributions and achievements (see slide). Development of the most comprehensive KG platform using a neurosymbolic approach today (according to Gemini), with good user stats. Product quality, scalable, robust, and in real-world use. Joey is hired by a very good company to continue in the role that he excels in (KG development). Can't ask for more!

Video: https://lnkd.in/e9EpZB5u
Slides: https://lnkd.in/eVRv3H8G
Photos: https://lnkd.in/ehEN_yVJ

04/19/2026

Gemini, responding to "popular KG development platform", says,"hashtag : Modern platforms like are combining symbolic AI with data-driven learning ...". Tomorrow, Joey Yip, who has been central to our R&D in , associated robust platform EMPWR (see the bullet list in the slide for the limitations of the SOTA addressed) and Prof. Amit Sheth 's 40th Ph.D. student who will defend tomorrow. If interested in the topic, join online (9:30 am EDT/7:00 pm IST 20 Apr): https://lnkd.in/e978k9EX
Or study his work in depth at: https://lnkd.in/e2RSXDHF

ps: Our major work in hashtag goes back to the first commercial KG-driven semantic search engine developed at my second startup (and first in the three AI product startups based on research in my university lab), Taalee/Semagix, in the year 2000: https://lnkd.in/eWUkf4K

04/12/2026

I was planning on shrinking my group during this soon-to-end sabbatical semester in India, and then this happened! And not to ignore, IAIRO too (http://iairo.ai).

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amitsheth_my-weekly-group-m%C3%A9eting-on-friday-had-44-activity-7448734642612068352-gVvc

ps: The number of long-time PhD students is reducing at the planned rate - seven graduated in 2025, and 4-6 expected in 2026, but ended up taking on many who intend to go for a PhD (not with me, I hope) and pursue regiourous research and innovation-focused careers.

My weekly group méeting on Friday had 44 participants. This is what my current Gurukul looks like. Like my 39 PhDs (40th next week) who are faculty at high-quality universities/programs, researchers/leaders in industry, and/or entrepreneurs, I hope many of these will endure to become highly success...

02/20/2026

Filling very proud of my Gurukul: in one of my initiatives, I am gratified that I have the company/collaboration of five former members: Selvam Velmurugan (1997, LSDIS/UGA), Vipul Kashyap (1998, LSDIS/UGA/Rutgers), Pratik Desai, PhD (2013, Knoesis/WSU), Pavan Kapanipathi (2016, Kno.esis/WSU), and Manas Gaur (2022, Knowesis/AIISC/USC; not in picture)!! How many times have former students come together with their former advisor in such a way!

01/18/2026

has over 15 events starting Tuesday, 20th, in Singapore, in and around . Check out:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aiisc_aiisc-aaai2026-activity-7418328950629838850-5t75

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aiisc_aiisc-aaai2026-activity-7418329207300145152-6N9K

continued from previous post (events 10 to 15: at ): 10. Demo:“𝗜𝗻-𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹: 𝗔 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗔𝗚 𝗕.....

12/17/2025

Here is the hooding ceremony of 5 of the 7 of my Ph.D. students who graduated this year. https://youtu.be/nYxM8iUkw1Y?t=4138
Here are the details: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7406739554809978880

What a memorable, record-breaking event for our Gurukul!

09/16/2025

Prof. Amit Sheth's highly watched video interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNTEft0NdW8 and
related article: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/analytics-india-magazine_indias-ambition-to-become-an-ai-superpower-activity-7372917039272792064-ir2s?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAAZ2YB886_WgrdhXkhRpqDG83-3hw8Npk , https://lnkd.in/ezXsYzdd

In this episode, Amit shares powerful insights on the future of technology, education, and India’s role in the global AI revolution. The discussion begins wi...

09/05/2025

UC Berkeley offers a fantastic course in which their students work on real-world projects, typically sponsored by & in collaboration with companies/organizations. I am thrilled to see that my Ph.D. student Joey Yip is offering/coordinating/mentoring two projects in partnership with Medhive.ai (founder/CEO: Vipul Kashyap, my first Ph.D. student). Both projects are several times oversubscribed (one receiving 90+ applications for 10 or fewer places). My Ph.D. students routinely work with companies (often their summer internship research continues in academic seminars (four ongoing now) and get offers for regular employment (at least three offers this year from their internship employers, at least two of these accepted, more offers expected).

Projects offered by Joey:
[1] https://lnkd.in/eQChdfnG
[2] https://lnkd.in/eaNtu-hR
[3] Both based on AIISC's research in KnowledgeGrpahs, and our professional-grade KG development platform hashtag : https://lnkd.in/eGEygnZX
[4] Joey's GScholar: https://lnkd.in/eXGj8EMy (a majority of my Ph.D. students have >500 citations midway, some have over 1000 before graduation).

hashtag
The Gurukul ecosystem that prepares our Ph.D.s: https://lnkd.in/eHnvW4-W