June 3, 2025

A redbud tree shows its color in the midday sun against Middle Earth Towers. (Photo by Steve Zylius / UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

Using AI to enhance human connection

Bill Tomlinson, professor of informatics and education, thinks that AI chatbots can be improved. His project An AI That’s a Better Friend, with Rebecca W. Black, Donald J. Patterson, Anne Marie Piper and Andrew W. Torrance, isn’t just another chatbot. It’s designed to form synthetic social relationships – meaning it remembers past conversations, builds an emotional history and develops a genuine sense of continuity with users. Tomlinson sees an opportunity to not just make AI more human but make humans better at being human – more connected, more collaborative and maybe even a little wiser.

Talent Connect provides career opportunities for current staff

To make it easier for current staff to build their careers at UC Irvine and UCI Health, Human Resources has launched a dedicated portal to search for and apply to jobs as an internal candidate. It also offers career guidance to help you prepare for internal interviews. To ensure that your application is considered as an internal candidate, you must apply through the Talent Connect internal jobs portal. Using this tool automatically connects your application to your UCPath profile, aligns with your UC Irvine email address and, if you’re selected for a position, guides you through onboarding as a current employee. Talent Connect can be accessed directly or via the EEC web page.

Addressing society’s most pressing issues

At the School of Social Ecology – the first and only school of its type in the nation – researchers bring real change, in real time, to real people’s lives, playing a pivotal role in helping solve society’s most pressing problems. The School of Social Ecology has launched “Impact Series: How Social Ecology Makes Your Life Better” to present examples of researchers’ work and the impact being made. For instance, watch the video to hear Dean Jon B. Gould explain the role the School of Social Ecology plays in providing policymakers, activists and the public reliable information via its UCI-OC Poll on the thoughts, feelings and actions of Orange County residents.

UC NEWS

Delivering high-quality healthcare

Across the University of California’s health system, data innovation is turning insight into action, which speaks to the core theme of the Center for Data-driven Insights and Innovation’s 2025 annual conference: “From Insight to Impact: Accelerating Healthcare Excellence.” Achieving the health results that matter most to patients is a core measure of success at UC academic health centers, and these efforts are increasingly powered by data innovation. During the recent conference, UC academic health center leaders shared how they’re implementing innovative data collection and digital literacy programs to improve care, overall patient experience and health education.

#IamUCI

Barry Oh joins NACUBO Fellows Program

Barry Oh, campus controller and assistant vice chancellor for accounting and fiscal services, has been selected for the 2025-26 NACUBO Fellows Program, a yearlong national leadership development program offered by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. It’s designed to prepare senior higher education professionals for future roles as chief business officers through mentoring, learning opportunities and cohort-based collaboration with peers from across the country.

#UCIconnected spotlights interesting updates from the UC Irvine community. #IamUCI spotlights profiles of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected or #IamUCI hashtags.

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