Simon Wells
Simon Wells

Dr Simon Wells

Lecturer

Biography

Research interests: Simon is a computer scientist with interests in Artificial Intelligence who works at the nexus of Argumentative Dialogue, Behaviour Change, and Interaction Design. His research is concerned with formal models of reasoning and communication that are based upon argumentation. He has developed theoretical and applied intelligent computational systems that support argumentation between heterogeneous groups of people and machines, and which have been deployed in pure science, educational, social and policy domains.

Career history: Simon began his career at the University of Dundee where he researched a thesis on inter-agent communication using argumentation whilst employed on the EPSRC-funded Information Exchange Project. After his doctoral research Simon stayed in the School of Computing at Dundee until 2011. During this time he lectured across the undergraduate Computer Science curriculum whilst helping establish the nascent Argumentation Research Group. In 2011, Simon joined the Open Microscopy Environment (OME) project and worked on joint research between OME and the Ninewells Hospital Health Informatics Centre. In 2012 Simon joined the School of Computing at the University of Aberdeen where he was on employed on a large EU-funded IP project called SUPERHUB. On SUPERHUB he researched the roles of persuasive technology and behaviour change mechanisms in sustainable transport systems. In 2014 Simon joined the school of computing at Edinburgh Napier as a lecturer.

Research Areas

Date


28 results

Formal Dialogue and Large Language Models

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Snaith, M., & Wells, S. (2024, October)
Formal Dialogue and Large Language Models. Presented at SICSA Workshop on Reasoning, Evaluation and Application of Large Language Models (SICSA-REALLM 2024), Aberdeen, UK
In this paper, we present preliminary work into combining formal models of dialogue and large language models, before going on to discuss how this provides a foundation for si...

On The Role of Dialogue Models in the Age of Large Language Models

Conference Proceeding
Wells, S., & Snaith, M. (2024)
On The Role of Dialogue Models in the Age of Large Language Models. In Proceedings of the 23nd Workshop on Computational Models of Natural Argument (CMNA 2023) (49-51

Thou Shalt Not Squander Life – Comparing Five Approaches to Argument Strength

Journal Article
Zenker, F., Dębowska-Kozłowska, K., Godden, D., Selinger, M., & Wells, S. (2023)
Thou Shalt Not Squander Life – Comparing Five Approaches to Argument Strength. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 68(1), 133-167. https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2023-0007
Different approaches analyze the strength of a natural language argument in different ways. This paper contrasts the dialectical, structural, probabilistic (or Bayesian), comp...

Burdens of Proposing: On the Burden of Proof in Deliberation Dialogues

Journal Article
Godden, D., & Wells, S. (2022)
Burdens of Proposing: On the Burden of Proof in Deliberation Dialogues. Informal Logic, 42(1), 291-342. https://doi.org/10.22329/il.v42i1.7225
This paper considers the probative burdens of proposing action or policy options in deliberation dialogues. Do proposers bear a burden of proof? Building on pioneering work by...

Towards a Declarative Approach to Constructing Dialogue Games

Conference Proceeding
Snaith, M., & Wells, S. (2021)
Towards a Declarative Approach to Constructing Dialogue Games. In Proceedings of the 21st Workshop on Computational Models of Natural Argument (9-18
In this paper we sketch a new approach to the development of dialogue games that builds upon the knowledge gained from several decades of dialogue game research across a varie...

Design and Evaluation of Visualisation Techniques to Facilitate Argument Exploration

Journal Article
Khartabil, D., Collins, C., Wells, S., Bach, B., & Kennedy, J. (2021)
Design and Evaluation of Visualisation Techniques to Facilitate Argument Exploration. Computer Graphics Forum, 40(6), 447-465. https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14389
This paper reports the design and comparison of three visualizations to represent the structure and content within arguments. Arguments are artefacts of reasoning widely used ...

The Open Argumentation PLatform (OAPL)

Book Chapter
Wells, S. (2020)
The Open Argumentation PLatform (OAPL). In H. Prakken, S. Bistarelli, F. Santini, & C. Taticchi (Eds.), Computational Models of Argument. IOS Press. https://doi.org/10.3233/FAIA200541
Abstract not available.

Trusting Intelligent Machines: Deepening Trust Within Socio-Technical Systems

Journal Article
Andras, P., Esterle, L., Guckert, M., Anh Han, T., Lewis, P. R., Milanovic, K., …Wells, S. (2018)
Trusting Intelligent Machines: Deepening Trust Within Socio-Technical Systems. IEEE technology & society magazine, 37(4), 76-83. https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2018.2876107
Intelligent machines have reached capabilities that go beyond a level that a human being can fully comprehend without sufficiently detailed understanding of the underlying mec...

Monkeypuzzle: Towards Next Generation, Free & Open-Source, Argument Analysis Tools

Presentation / Conference
Douglas, J. & Wells, S. (2017, June)
Monkeypuzzle: Towards Next Generation, Free & Open-Source, Argument Analysis Tools. Paper presented at The 17th International Workshop on Computation Models of Natural Argument (CMNA17), London, U.K
We introduce a new, free, open-source, web-based argument analysis tool called Monkeypuzzle. This is designed to provide both a foundation for creating and visualising reprodu...

Information Diffusion in Multi-Agent Communities

Conference Proceeding
Farrenkopf, T., Guckert, M., Urquhart, N., & Wells, S. (in press)
Information Diffusion in Multi-Agent Communities. In Conference Proceedings
Understanding the course of events when newly launched products penetrate a market, and how those products supersede existing dominant products, is crucial. Besides potential ...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • SUstainable and PERsuasive Human Users moBility in future cities (SUPERHUB)
  • Nuffield Undergraduate Research Bursary (URB/38468)
  • International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) Placement UK/10/317/01
  • EPSRC (GR/S03/706/01): The Information Exchange

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects