Assem Zhunis

Ph.D. Student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, HKUST

Hong Kong (from Kazakhstan) · +852 6313 9500
azhunis@connect.ust.hk · zhunis.assem@gmail.com
www.semka.fyi · Google Scholar · LinkedIn · GitHub · ORCID

Research Interests

Finding meaningful patterns in data, solving challenging social problems (e.g., pandemics), understanding and optimizing human–machine group dynamics.

Keywords: HCI, computational social science, data science, statistical modeling

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science 2024 — Present
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Hong Kong

Supervisor: Prof. Xiaojuan Ma · HKPFS recipient · Passed qualifying exam (speculative design in HCI, futures studies & AI), March 2026 — slides

M.S. in Computer Science 2022 — 2024
KAIST Daejeon, South Korea

Supervisor: Prof. Meeyoung (Mia) Cha, IBS Data Science Group

B.S. in Computer Science 2017 — 2022
KAIST Daejeon, South Korea

Selected coursework: Probabilistic Programming, Human–Computer Interaction, Human–AI Interaction, Social Computing, Computational Social Science, ML in NLP, Graph ML and Mining, Computer Vision, AI Ethics.

Teaching: TA for Programming with C++ (COMP2011) and Human–Computer Interaction (COMP4461), HKUST; Data Science Methodology (CS564) and Introduction to Machine Learning (CS376), KAIST.

Experience

Graduate Research Assistant 2024 — Present
HKUST HCI Group Hong Kong

Human–machine group dynamics and AI for well-being.

Research Assistant Jul 2020 — 2024
IBS Data Science Group, KAIST Daejeon, South Korea

Generative AI, chatbots, human–AI interaction, sentiment analysis, and large-scale social data analysis.

Research Intern Jul — Sep 2022
CYENS Center of Excellence (fAIre MSG team) Nicosia, Cyprus

Mentors: Prof. Jahna Otterbacher & Dr. Styliani Kleanthous. Analyzed how leaders and countries are associated on social media during the war.

Web Developer Jan — Feb 2020
Software Security Lab, KAIST Daejeon, South Korea

Built UI prototypes for an educational security website (Razor Pages, .NET Core, SQLite, C#).

Publications

Full list: www.semka.fyi/publications

  • Assem Zhunis, Ziqi Pan, Yuanhao Zhang, Xiaojuan Ma. Friend, Foe, or Bot? Exploring Intergroup Dynamics in Hybrid Human-Bot Teams. CHI 2026. Best Paper Award.
  • Yubin Choi, Assem Zhunis, Wenchao Dong, Joseph Seering, Sangchul Park, Meeyoung Cha, Hyojin Chin. Privacy disclosure to large language models: A large-scale study on awareness, benefits, and concerns in health contexts across three countries. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 2025. doi
  • Hyojin Chin, Assem Zhunis, Meeyoung Cha. Behaviors and Perceptions of Human-Chatbot Interactions Based on Top Active Users of a Commercial Social Chatbot. Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact. (CSCW), 2024. doi
  • Wenchao Dong, Assem Zhunis, Dongyoung Jeong, Hyojin Chin, Jiyoung Han, Meeyoung Cha. I Am Not Them: Persistent Outgroup Bias in Large Language Models Arising from Social Identity Persona Setting. LREC 2026.
  • Sungkyu Park, Assem Zhunis, Marios Constantinides, Luca Maria Aiello, Daniel Quercia, Meeyoung Cha. Social dimensions impact individual sleep quantity and quality. Scientific Reports, 13, 9681, 2023. doi
  • Hyojin Chin, Gabriel Lima, Mingi Shin, Assem Zhunis, Chiyoung Cha, Junghoi Choi, Meeyoung Cha. User-Chatbot Conversations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Study Based on Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e40922, 2023. doi
  • Assem Zhunis, Gabriel Lima, Hyoungshick Song, Jinyoung Han, Meeyoung Cha. Emotion Bubbles: Emotional Composition of Online Discourse Before and After the COVID-19 Outbreak. The Web Conference (WWW), 2022. doi
  • Assem Zhunis, Tung-Duong Mai, Sundong Kim. Responses to COVID-19 with Probabilistic Programming. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 2022. doi
  • Gabriel Lima, Assem Zhunis, Lev Manovich, Meeyoung Cha. On the Social-Relational Moral Standing of AI: An Empirical Study Using AI-Generated Art. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 8, 2021. doi

Awards & Honors

  • CHI 2026 Best Paper Award
  • Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), 2024
  • 1st place, SIA track, JunctionX Seoul Hackathon, May 2021
  • Excellence Award, KCS 2020 Conference, Feb 2021
  • Bronze Medal, 49th International Chemistry Olympiad, Thailand, Jul 2017
  • Silver Medal, 51st International Mendeleev Olympiad, Astana, May 2017
  • Gold Medal, International Bekturov Olympiad, Pavlodar, Apr 2017
  • Gold Medal, National Chemistry Olympiad, Pavlodar, Mar 2017

Skills

Programming: Python, R, C/C++, HTML/CSS/JS

Tools: SQL, Git, LaTeX, Flask, React, Google Cloud, Firebase

Languages: English, Russian, Kazakh