Dr. Alicia Jackson (Hong) is a multifaceted academic and industry expert with broad interests spanning Natural Language Processing (NLP), Human-Machine Interactions—including experiments with Virtual Reality and Voice Assistant technologies—and social sciences with a focus on Speech Analysis and Psychology. She currently teaches multivariate analysis, analytics principles, and exploratory data analysis, bridging theoretical knowledge with real-world applications.
In her professional role, Dr. Alicia Jackson specializes in data engineering, automation, and user experience testing within agile development workflows. She leverages advanced NLP and machine learning workflows, including the GPT pipeline, to bootstrap text processing tasks from collection, labeling to delivering scalable solutions in data-driven projects.
Education
Ph.D. in Data Science, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, 2020–2024
Alicia’s doctoral research centered on fine-tuning Large Language Models (LLMs) for Mandarin dialogue parsing, achieving significant results with Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). Her expertise extends across Generative AI, forecasting, and applied programming in NLP.
M.S. in Communication, Boston University, 2016–2018
With a focus on marketing data analytics, Alicia gained expertise in problem-solving, survey design, data collection, and consumer behavior analysis using SPSS. This period also kindled her passion for VR research.
B.B.A. in Business Administration, Shanghai International Studies University, 2012–2016
Throughout her undergraduate studies, Alicia developed strong teamwork skills and a keen interest in applying business insights to real-world scenarios. Alicia was selected for an exchange program to experience education in University of Valencia in Spain, where she engaged in local business research and international negotiation simulations.
Diploma in Economics and Trade, Fudan University, 2013–2016
Alicia supplemented her undergraduate studies with coursework in economics and trade at one of China’s top universities, building a well-rounded foundation in business and economics.
Publications
- Hong, A., Nwoji, S. C., Murungi, J. K., Tatikonda, P. K., & Kaluvakolli, A. (2023). Uncovering Sentiments Expressed on GPT in Academic Papers. 17th International Conference on Open Source Systems and Technologies (ICOSST), Lahore, Pakistan. doi: 10.1109/ICOSST60641.2023.10414229
- Chen, T., Hong, A., Liao, Z., Meekajit, P., & Wang, Y. (2023). The Prosocial and Cathartic Potential of Immersive Media on Eudaimonic Entertainment Experiences. Psychology of Popular Media, 12(4), 414.
- Bellur, S., Hong, A., & Ma, J.-S. (2025). An Ensemble Approach to Raga Classification Using Deep and Traditional Machine Learning. Proceedings of CICN 2025.
