Her Story
About Batul
I'm a computer science student at George Mason University, where I'm pursuing my Bachelor's degree from the Engineering College and am also part of the Honors College. I'm in my third year but credit-wise a senior, and I'm planning to graduate in December, though my official graduation date would be spring 2027 since I'm graduating one semester early on my own time. My area of expertise is AI research, particularly focusing on new technologies like generative AI and how we can use AI to create a more advanced and technological world with stronger ethics. I'm researching whether AI can have emotions of empathy and whether they can be used for specialized therapy. My research explores whether we can create humanoid robots that provide not just mental support through conversation, but also the human touch that people need, including monitoring heart rate and breathing signals. I believe AI can be personalized for mental health support since therapy is expensive and therapists can't be available 24/7. On campus, I work as a Resident Assistant, taking care of housing-related responsibilities. My typical day involves waking up early around 7 AM, going to the gym to work out, attending school, conducting research, and staying informed about global developments. I also play volleyball and am involved with the Girls Who Code club at Mason and Asian engineering societies. Looking ahead, I hope to be creating robots for commercial households in the next five years, such as robots that can cook, clean, iron clothes, and handle tedious tasks, giving people more time to focus on what matters most to them and spend quality time with family.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Batul
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I feel like there's still a big gap between men and women in computer science, especially in the technology field, and women are still looked down upon in the industry. If you have a group project, men prefer to work with men and wouldn't want to include a woman. I see people going up to men more for professional advice or anything STEM-related or IT-related. I want it to be that you could be the face of IT and computer science and be proud to say you're a computer science major. It shouldn't be that when they see you as a woman, they consider you bio or chemistry. I can be proud and say, hey, I'm a computer science major or I'm a mechanical engineer, and it should be looked at exactly the same as a man and a woman, with no comparison. The opportunities for women to be treated equally in the industry are super important.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
We're going to have an AI revolution, just like we had an industrial revolution. That's literally the future we're going towards, and a lot of changes will happen. We're going to have new jobs and new things coming up every single time, like this new job called prompt engineering. We didn't even think that would be a thing, actually typing to train the AI to give you the responses that you want. We're all growing rapidly, humans are growing, technology is advancing, so I feel like we have to keep up with our times. There are going to be a lot of jobs that are going to be lost, but there are also going to be a lot of jobs that are going to be gained, so it's going to be a win-lose situation. These humanoid robots will automate tedious work in our lives and whatever we do in our personal lives, and it will give us more time to spend personally, make more human connections, bond with each other, do things with our family, and focus on academics and work. It's going to give you more time to do leisure stuff. As long as you have the ethical regulations and strict restrictions, it can be controlled.
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