Morgan R Frank

Detecting bias in algorithms used to disseminate information in social networks and mitigating it using multiobjective optimization Abstract. Social connections are conduits through which individuals communicate, information propagates, and diseases spread. Identifying individuals who a

How fair are the algorithms that decide who gets information online? Our new paper in PNAS Nexus shows that maximization algorithms, the ones used to pick “influencers” in social networks, unintentionally deepen inequality.

🧠 Sekara, Dotu, Cebrian, Moro & García-Herranz
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/pnas...

This month, no colloquium but a special session about careers in network science! Join us and an all-star panel on October 29. Register here for a Zoom link: iu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Here is a ‘blame-praise curve’ for the percentage of household chores done by husbands

People think husbands are blameworthy if they do 20%, but praiseworthy if they do 40% (!)

Perceived average is above 40%, so people think below average is still praiseworthy

[Thread]

You: pornbots keep randomly following me on Bluesky

Me, an intellectual: pornbots are citing my books on Google Scholar

Inflation

Federal judge rules cuts to humanities grants were 'unlawful' The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.

The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.

4-panel comic. (1) [Person 1 with ponytail flanked by person with short hair and another person speaking into microphone at podium] PERSON 1: In the early 2010s, researchers found that many major scientific results couldn’t be reproduced. (2) PERSON 1: Over a decade into the replication crisis, we wanted to see if today’s studies have become more robust. (3) PERSON 1: Unfortunately, our replication analysis has found exactly the same problems that those 2010s researchers did. (4) [newspaper with image of speakers from previous panels] Headline: Replication Crisis Solved

Replication Crisis

xkcd.com/3117/

RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.

This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible.
www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

Don’t eat your receipts

Qing Chang will present research on “Upward mobility in the green sector for frontline fossil fuel workers”—joined by Michaël Aklin, Morgan Frank, and Shanti Gamper-Rabindran.

Register NOW to join live seminar on Zoom:
lnkd.in/gAhgfjMq

The EO has to be interpreted in light of the (decades long) Republican attack on science.

This has nothing to do with improving science. They're using legitImate criticism from within science to (ironically) decrease the credibility of science. They then have no obligation to listen to scientists.

A story about why Democrats are losers, in four parts.

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.

Picture of the panelist in the event "Bowling alone, together" addressing the questions from the chair and audience

Thanks to all who joined our conversation on Social Capital in the Age of AI and the screening of Join or Die. 25 years after Bowling Alone, we explored how tech is reshaping trust, connection & civic life in the algorithmic era. @danielaldrich.bsky.social @hamishgibbs.bsky.social socialurban.net

The NSF building, photo courtesy of Duke University

📢 Today I was supposed to be in DC, highlighting what the NSF Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences delivers to US taxpayers. NSF had one of the highest returns on investment (ROIs) of federal grantors 👏🏻 (1) and NSF SBE funded 63% of US social and psychological science research (2). 🧵

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

BREAKING: NSF has frozen all grant funding, as of yesterday. It's unclear when they will resume funding awards, or why the pause has been put in place. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🚨New WP🚨
Using GPT4 to persuade participants significantly reduces climate skepticism and inaction
-Sig more effective than consensus messaging
-Works for Republicans
-Evidence of persistence @ 1mo
-Scalable!
PDF: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Try the bot: www.debunkbot.com/climate-change
Here’s how 👇

This, @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social might be the dumbest take I've ever seen on social media. "Moderate their position on Canada?" WTF?!

If the Republican party started believing in levitation, would you ask Democrats to moderate their position on gravity?

Policy, workers, and firms who make decisions with any one study's exposure scores are likely to get it wrong! These studies employ different definitions of "AI" and perform variably depending on the US region or sector. User beware!

So which exposure studies are the most predictive of job loss? Individually, exposure scores from Frey/Osborne, Brynjolfsson, Felten et al, and the recent Eloundou et al studies are not predictive of unemployment risk. However, when combined, they are very predictive!

How could we even test this? Commonly-used employment and wage data don't directly capture job loss. So we instead use data from each state's unemployment insurance program to calculate workers' unemployment risk based on their occupation and local labor market

AI exposure scores can predict workers' unemployment risk! While individual AI exposure models aren't predictive of job losses, combining them creates a powerful predictive tool. #AIandJobs #FutureOfWork
New work with @yyahn.bsky.social & @estebanmoro.bsky.social academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ad...

Perfection

Essay | The Clean Energy Revolution Is Unstoppable The Trump administration is determined to promote fossil fuels, but the economic and technological forces driving solar, wind and other sources are now too powerful to resist.

I'm in the @wsj.com with @ericbeinhocker.bsky.social explaining the #CleanEnergy revolution is unstoppable. Despite the Trump administration's determination to promote fossil fuels, the economic and technological forces driving green energy are too powerful to resist.
www.wsj.com/business/ene...

YouTube video by Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems Wed@NICO - 2/26/25 - Morgan Frank

Next was an amazing talk by @mrfrank.bsky.social on challenges with determining how susceptible jobs are to automation at @nicoatnu.bsky.social. Frank presents a compelling network-oriented approach for modeling automation shocks. Highly recommend www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p0L... (7/8)

An event flyer for a Wednesdays @ NICO talk on 2/26/25 with Morgan Frank of the University of Pittsburgh.

#AI has evolved and now challenges our understanding of skills and careers. This Wednesday, we are thrilled to host @mrfrank.bsky.social to explore "AI, Complexity, and the Future of Work". Join us in person in Chambers Hall or via Zoom. #WedatNICO

🗓️ Wed 2/26 at 12pm US Central
🔗 bit.ly/WedatNICO

🎨 Is AI democratising creativity—or racing to the bottom?

🎙️ This week I talked with @mrfrank.bsky.social about how AI is reshaping creative industries.

📢 Listen now: [Podcast Link]

What do you think—is AI helping or hurting creative professionals? 👇

#AIart #TechAndArt #GenerativeAI #AIethics

AI & Unemployment with Dr Morgan Frank How will AI reshape jobs, wages, and economic resilience?

I had a great time on the Narrow Window podcast discussing AI and the future of work. We correctly identified that LLMs run on your laptop were imminent just weeks before DeepSeek R1
open.substack.com/pub/thenarro...

In a fast-changing economy, we need dynamic solutions for communicating and verifying our skills, knowledge, and abilities. Come have an early look at our solution! @youngjinyoo.bsky.social @kerrilemoie.bsky.social