Social Computing × AI × Governance

Hi, I’m Rayhan (“Raye-haan”), a PhD student passionate about Social Computing and AI & Tech Governance. I work with awesome Farnaz Jahanbakhsh at the University of Michigan. Outside research, I’m a husband 👨‍❤️‍👩 & Chelsea fan !

I design social computing systems aimed at achieving ethical, pro-social outcomes aligned with user preferences and community values. I complement hands-on system design with rigorous mixed-method studies, driven by one overarching question:

How can AI-powered civic technologies empower communities to shape their digital—and social—experiences?

I explore several interconnected areas:

• Personalized & Community-driven Moderation:
  Creating tools that empower communities, rather than platforms, to define and manage their own online experiences.

• Policy & Governance in Social Computing:
  Designing AI systems that democratize decision-making, addressing risks of centralized control, biases, and echo chambers.

• Ethics of the Attention Economy & Pro-Social Platforms:
  Challenging existing platform designs that prioritize user attention over community health and proposing viable alternatives aligned with meaningful interactions.

• AI in Unconventional Contexts (Spiritual Computing):
  Exploring how AI can facilitate deeper, reflective, or spiritual digital experiences, challenging traditional notions of online communities.

Selected Publications

• Pandemic, Repair, and Resilience: Coping with Technology Breakdown during COVID-19 in Bangladesh
  Rayhan Rashed, Mohammad Rashidujjaman Rifat, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed | ACM COMPASS 2021

• Dakter Bari: Introducing Intermediary to Ensure Healthcare Services to Extremely Impoverished People
  Rayhan Rashed*, Md Aminur Rahman*, Sharmin Akther Purabi, Noshin Ulfat, Sriram Chellappan, ABM Alim Al Islam | ACM CSCW 2021 (*Equal contribution)

• Exploring the Tensions between the Owners and Drivers of Uber Cars in Urban Bangladesh
  SM Taiabul Haque, Rayhan Rashed, Mehrab Bin Morshed, Md Main Uddin Rony, Naeemul Hassan, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed | ACM CSCW 2021

See the complete list on my Google Scholar.

Previous Experience

Before joining Michigan, I was:

• Lecturer at the CS Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), graduating with a GPA of 3.94 (2nd in class). My academic growth was shaped by Dr. A.B.M. Alim Al Islam, my undergraduate advisor.

• Research Engineer at Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), deploying large-scale human-centered AI solutions.

• Collaborator with Dr. Ishtiaque Ahmed at the University of Toronto, where I honed my mixed-method research skills through extensive community engagement (2000+ surveys, 120+ interviews).

Feel free to reach out for collaboration, discussion, or just a chat!