publications

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2026

1. 

   Seeking Help, Facing Harm: Auditing TikTok’s Mental Health Recommendations

   Pooriya Jamie, Amir Ghasemian , and Homa Hosseinmardi

   In Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media , 2026

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   Recommender systems on social media increasingly mediate how users encounter mental health content, yet it remains unclear whether they distinguish help-seeking from distress expression. We conduct a controlled 7-day audit of TikTok’s "For You" page using 30 fresh accounts and LLM-guided agents that vary initial search framing (distress- vs. help-initiated) and interaction strategy (engaged, avoidant, passive). Across 8,727 recommended videos, interaction behavior dominates exposure outcomes: engagement rapidly saturates feeds with mental health content (approximately 45% of daily recommendations), while avoidance and passive viewing reduce but do not eliminate exposure (approximately 11-20%). Search framing mainly shifts composition rather than volume–help-initiated searches yield more potentially supportive material, yet potentially harmful content persists at low but non-zero levels, including content in the Suicide/Self-Harm category. These findings suggest limited sensitivity to user intent signals in TikTok’s recommendations and motivate context-aware safeguards for sensitive topics.

2. 

   How You Ask Shapes What You Get: Auditing Breast-Cancer Misinformation in TikTok Search

   Pooriya Jamie, Homa Hosseinmardi , Rezvaneh Rezapour , Aria Pessianzadeh , Patricia A. Ganz , and Amir Ghasemian

   2026

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   Millions of people use TikTok to seek health information, yet little is known about how users’ search queries shape exposure to health misinformation. Whereas prior algorithm audits have focused primarily on recommendation feeds, we examine TikTok’s search system, where users explicitly express their information needs through query formulation. We conduct a controlled sock-puppet audit of TikTok Search using 30 fresh accounts assigned to six experimental conditions spanning three information-seeking framings (Medical Information, Alternative Medicine, and Peer Narrative) and two breast-cancer contexts (Symptom Noticing and Active Treatment). Across 9,020 usable search-result exposures, annotated using a validated vision-language model pipeline, we find that query framing is strongly associated with misinformation exposure. Alternative Medicine queries returned misinformation in 54.1 percent of cancer-relevant results within the Symptom Noticing context and 53.5 percent within the Active Treatment context, 8.6 times and 7.6 times higher, respectively, than clinically framed Medical Information queries. Even Medical Information queries returned measurable levels of possible misinformation (6.3–7.1 percent), suggesting that explicit medical intent alone does not eliminate exposure. Moreover, for Alternative Medicine queries, possible misinformation appeared throughout the ranked search results rather than only near the top, showing that exposure is not confined to the highest-ranked results. Videos labeled as misinformation were also substantially more likely to contain comments promoting unsupported treatments or anti-standard-care views. These findings demonstrate that search query framing plays a central role in shaping misinformation exposure on TikTok and highlight the importance of auditing query-driven search systems alongside recommendation algorithms.

3. 

   Beyond Binary Detection: A Multi-Dimensional Taxonomy of Cancer Misinformation on Reddit

   Aria Pessianzadeh , Pooriya Jamie, Naima Sultana , Georgia Himmelstein , Yuliya Zektser , Patricia Ganz , Homa Hosseinmardi , Amir Ghasemian , and Rezvaneh Rezapour

   2026

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   Cancer-related discussions on social media provide an important space for information exchange and peer support, but also facilitate the spread of misinformation that may influence prevention, screening, and treatment decisions. Existing research on cancer misinformation often relies on narrow definitions, small-scale datasets, or binary labeling frameworks. We introduce a multi-dimensional taxonomy for characterizing cancer misinformation in Reddit discussions of breast, lung, colon, and prostate cancer. The taxonomy captures seven dimensions, including misinformation presence, information type, risk level, stance, and topical focus. Using expert-annotated data, we evaluate multiple large language models (LLMs) for scalable misinformation annotation and analyze cancer misinformation across Reddit communities. Our results show that cancer-related misinformation constitutes approximately 6 percent of Reddit cancer discussions, with substantial variation across communities and misinformation topics. Few-shot prompting substantially improves classification performance, particularly for nuanced taxonomy dimensions. We additionally identify recurring misinformation narratives centered on unsupported treatments, distrust of conventional medicine, and misleading claims about diagnosis and screening. Our taxonomy, dataset, and findings provide a foundation for multi-dimensional modeling of online cancer misinformation.

2025

1. 

   Utilizing ChatGPT in a Data Structures and Algorithms Course: A Teaching Assistant’s Perspective

   Pooriya Jamie, Reyhaneh HajiHashemi , and Sharareh Alipour

   In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2025

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   Integrating large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT into computer science education offers transformative potential for complex courses such as data structures and algorithms (DSA). This study examines ChatGPT as a supplementary tool for teaching assistants (TAs), guided by structured prompts and human oversight, to enhance instruction and student outcomes. A controlled experiment compared traditional TA-led instruction with a hybrid approach where TAs used ChatGPT-4o and ChatGPT o1 to generate exercises, clarify concepts, and provide feedback. Structured prompts emphasized problem decomposition, real-world context, and code examples, enabling tailored support while mitigating over-reliance on AI. Results demonstrated the hybrid approach’s efficacy, with students in the ChatGPT-assisted group scoring 16.50 points higher on average and excelling in advanced topics. However, ChatGPT’s limitations necessitated TA verification. This framework highlights the dual role of LLMs: augmenting TA efficiency while ensuring accuracy through human oversight, offering a scalable solution for human-AI collaboration in education.

2024

1. 

   Indian Stock Market Prediction using Augmented Financial Intelligence ML

   Anishka Chauhan , Pratham Mayur , Yeshwanth Sai Gokarakonda , Pooriya Jamie, and Naman Mehrotra

   Social Science Research Network, Jan 2024

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   This paper presents price prediction models using Machine Learning algorithms augmented with Superforecasters predictions, aimed at enhancing investment decisions. Five Machine Learning models are built, including Bidirectional LSTM, ARIMA, a combination of CNN and LSTM, GRU, and a model built using LSTM and GRU algorithms. The models are evaluated using the Mean Absolute Error to determine their predictive accuracy. Additionally, the paper suggests incorporating human intelligence by identifying Superforecasters and tracking their predictions to anticipate unpredictable shifts or changes in stock prices. The predictions made by these users can further enhance the accuracy of stock price predictions when combined with Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing techniques. Predicting the price of any commodity can be a significant task but predicting the price of a stock in the stock market deals with much more uncertainty. Recognising the limited knowledge and exposure to stocks among certain investors, this paper proposes price prediction models using Machine Learning algorithms. In this work, five Machine learning models are built using Bidirectional LSTM, ARIMA, a combination of CNN and LSTM, GRU and the last one is built using LSTM and GRU algorithms. Later these models are assessed using MAE scores to find which model is predicting with the highest accuracy. In addition to this, this paper also suggests the use of human intelligence to closely predict the shift in price patterns in the stock market. The main goal is to identify Superforecasters and track their predictions to anticipate unpredictable shifts or changes in stock prices. By leveraging the combined power of Machine Learning and the Human Intelligence, predictive accuracy can be significantly increased.