Investigating and preventing harmful cultural implications of AI in social media

Piera Riccio (Ph.D. Student)

Social media platforms are reshaping the flow of information in our society, establishing new paradigms of mass communication. Because of their ubiquitous nature, they constantly influence our daily choices, having a widespread impact on different facets of our culture. On such platforms, AI algorithms are massively utilized, for example, to choose and moderate what we see, to provide automatic editing tools, and to boost (or hinder) the popularity of posts and users. In this work, we wish to analyze the implications of such platforms on our culture and our perceptions of certain social groups, including women. For example, while these effects can be concealed and hard to decipher, it is crucial to investigate to what extent AI is contributing to the amplification of existing gender disparities. In addition, we wish to re-think the applications of AI in the interaction with these platforms, limiting unethical behaviors with unhealthy and unfair outcomes for individuals and society as a whole.

Primary Host:	Nuria Oliver (ELLIS Alicante Unit Foundation | Institute of Humanity-centric AI)
Exchange Host:	Thomas Hofmann (ETH Zürich)
PhD Duration:	01 November 2021 - 01 November 2024
Exchange Duration:	- Ongoing - Ongoing