Jiwoo Seo, a School of Information (iSchool) doctoral student, presented her research paper, “Motivations for Participating in Biomedical Ontology Communities within Human-AI Collaboration,” at the 24th International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Initiative (DCMI) in Seoul, South Korea. 

“Since I am originally from Seoul and have lived there for most of my life, the location felt very comfortable and familiar,” said Seo. “At the same time, it was a proud and meaningful moment for me to return to my hometown and present my research on an international stage while representing the FSU iSchool.” 

DCMI is a premier international conference for metadata research and practice that explores how it can improve AI by making it more accurate, transparent, and aligned with human values. It brings together experts to discuss new research and practical applications of metadata in AI. 

Seo’s research presentation explored the underlying motivations of individuals who participate in biomedical ontology communities within the context of Human-AI Collaboration. The study highlights what drives people to contribute to these highly specialized, collaborative data structures. 

“Biomedical ontologies rely heavily on voluntary human efforts,” said Seo. “While AI is increasingly utilized in biomedical ontology communities, human expertise remains strictly essential to verify and validate AI outputs. Human-AI Collaboration is about augmenting and supporting human effort, not replacing it. Therefore, understanding what motivates people to continuously engage in this curation and verification process is essential to ensure the reliability of biomedical research in the AI era.” 

For this event, Seo received the FSU COGS Conference Support Grant and the iSchool Travel Grant to support her attendance and presentation at the conference. 

“International travel costs can be prohibitive for graduate students, and this generous support was essential in allowing me to participate in the conference and share my research globally,” said Seo. 

Beyond the findings of her research, Seo hopes her work highlights the continued importance of human involvement as AI becomes increasingly integrated into research and professional practices. 

“I hope researchers and practitioners realize that even in this AI era, sustaining voluntary human work and communities remain foundational,” said Seo. “As technology rapidly advances, it is crucial to preserve human autonomy while automating workflows. Furthermore, because algorithms can inherently be biased, human validation of AI outputs is still necessary.” 

Seo emphasized that the experience would not have been possible without the support and mentorship of the FSU iSchool community. 

“I sincerely appreciate Dr. Margaret Sullivan, who helped me refine the paper for DCMI, Dr. Besiki Stvilia, who instructed the Information Behavior class where this paper originally started, and Dr. Zhe He, who initially guided me to find this research topic.”