Sophia A. Knight

😱

Fabulous online seminar organized by @algosoc.org

Algorithmic Effects on #Elections: Using Social Media Data Donations to Study Elections

🗓️ Fri 12 Dec, 14:00–15:30 CET

@ernesto-deleon.com @favstats.eu @antmandan.bsky.social @simonchauchard.bsky.social

Registration ⬇️

algosoc.org/events/algos...

📣 Online platforms shape what we know, how we connect, and who gets heard, yet researcher access to public platform data is shrinking, while platforms monetize this data. Our new report "Better Access" offers a framework for accessing this critical data: kgi.georgetown.edu/research-and...

Computational Turing Test Reveals Systematic Differences Between Human and AI Language Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in the social sciences to simulate human behavior, based on the assumption that they can generate realistic, human-like text. Yet this assumption rem...

This has been carried out by amazing Nicolò Pagan, with Chris Bail, Chris Barrie, and Anikó Hannák.

Paper (preprint): arxiv.org/abs/2511.04195

Happy to share prompts, configs, and analysis scripts.

Computational Turing Test Reveals Systematic Differences Between Human and AI Language Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in the social sciences to simulate human behavior, based on the assumption that they can generate realistic, human-like text. Yet this assumption rem...

LLMs are now widely used in social science as stand-ins for humans—assuming they can produce realistic, human-like text

But... can they? We don’t actually know.

In our new study, we develop a Computational Turing Test.

And our findings are striking:
LLMs may be far less human-like than we think.🧵

Excited to share that together with @malojan.bsky.social we’ve published a research note in #partypolitics introducing PartySOME, a comprehensive dataset on political parties’ social media activity. A thread 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Hits the nail on the head - “digital politics is driven not just by information, but by personality and performance”

We are pleased that @sophiaaknight.bsky.social has joined the network as a Visiting Researcher, bringing her expertise in digital technologies and the ways they support and shape civic and democratic participation.

Thank you Karen! ☺️

Podcasts are now illegal in China

Calling ALL health data folk: Re UK Health Data Research Service.

The UK gov & Wellcome have pledged up to £600 million to create a HDRS.

Myself & an ace team have been tasked by Wellcome to assess the existing health data ecosystem & identify what is needed to support the HDRS 👇.

Get in touch

Introducing GreenEarth We're building advanced open source algorithms for social media

GreenEarth is creating open source AI-driven recommender infrastructure for BlueSky. Type a prompt, see your feed change. We are here for the users, the builders, the dreamers. Join us.
greenearthsocial.substack.com/p/introducin...

Public Service Media and democracy in the digital age Public service media can shape digital technology to strengthen democracy

🟡 If you're interested in learning more, you can find the blog post and full report on PSM and Democracy in the Digital Age here: www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/...

🟡 We can’t turn back the clock, but public service media (PSM) is in a unique position to shape technology in the public interest moving forward:
🤝 Creating spaces for civic dialogue across divides
🏛️ Fostering shared cultural experiences
📖 Increasing transparency and accountability of PSM

🟡 The UK’s civic landscape is fracturing in the face of ongoing economic, social and political challenges. Finding safe and reliable spaces to access and debate information has become increasingly difficult.

🟡 Public spaces for accessing and debating information are vital for a healthy democracy. Yet, our digital public spaces are being shaped by profit-seeking incentives, not public interest.

Banner with yellow background and outlines of various geometric shapes. In the foreground, a woman is sitting at her laptop, looking up at a series of speech bubbles.

🟡 New blog post: What does meaningful civic participation look like in a world shaped by third-party platforms? ⬇️

Tech Journalism Fund - Omidyar Network

If any US tech journalists want to chat with @workersobservatory.org let us know. Could be funding here:

omidyar.com/where-we-foc...

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.

Work!! 🚨

We are looking for a #postdoc in our AI, media and Democracy Lab @aimediademlab.bsky.social

Dynamic position, great team, nice colleagues 💥

Profile: communication/ poli sci/ computational social sci

🗓️ DL November 1

Spread the word 📣

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Thank you to all of our BBC R&D and Advisory colleagues who have supported this research and a huge shout out to @rhianne-j.bsky.social for her hard work setting up the Responsible Innovation Centre! It has been a busy and brilliant few months and I'm excited to share what comes next ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

🟣 And last, but not least, Alice Weavers on Youth Participation to Shape the Digital Future of Public Service Media downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/responsib... 🟣

🔵🟠 Jaspal Samra on Measuring the Value of Technology & Innovation downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/responsib...

& Joe Massey on Digital Inclusive Futures for Public Service Media and their Audiences downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/responsib... 🟠🔵

🔴🟢 My colleagues @bronwynjo.bsky.social on Responsible AI and Public Service Journalism downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/responsib...

& @helenljay.bsky.social on Public Service Media in an Age of Personalisation downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/responsib... 🟢🔴

🟡 My report on Public Service Media and Democracy in the Digital Age, ft. insights from leading thinkers @ethanz.bsky.social @idpiumass.bsky.social @publicspaces.net @angelquicksey.bsky.social @newpublic.org @vpro.nl @felixsimon.bsky.social @reutersinstitute.bsky.social @zizip.bsky.social 🟡

Banner: Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures, with BBC & Partners

📚 The Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Future's six-part scoping report series is out now! 📚

We've drawn on insights of over 100 experts to set out some of the biggest challenges & opportunities for public media in digital technology and innovation, including...

📣 New Publication - 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐁𝐂

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝: Conducted 22 expert interviews & a workshop in London to explore the principles-to-practices gap of responsible AI at the BBC. 🧵 with some findings 👇

The British Podcast Awards featured a strange “glitch” that everyone found amusing; but has interesting implications. Most of the winners were upstairs in the cheap balcony seats, meaning there was a few minutes’ delay on almost EVERY award as the winners went down the back stairs to the stage. >>

Don’t dwell on “democracy,” and other new findings about how to market local news "Here’s the paradox: 93% of people believe reliable local news is necessary for democracy, yet many of these same people react negatively to explicit 'democracy' messaging."

"While we heard throughout the research that people value the role of local news, the word 'journalism' can evoke partisanship or elitism for some audiences, while 'media' sounds like entertainment to many people." www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/dont...

Wrote something for @powertochange.org.uk about the fact that government policy must include a new category - digital social policy - to address the social impacts of technologies. Tech policy has to be more than cutting-edge innovation and growth www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

We have heard about how the welfare system treats those that depend on it, including poor communication, limited transparency, delays, and long waiting times.

But a welfare system is possible 🗣️

Read the latest blog from @j-hancock.bsky.social: demos.co.uk/blogs/puttin...