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Edna Anderson-Taylor Communication Institute

Department of Communication

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Speaker Series

Speaker Series

Each year, the Communication Institute holds a series of 4-6 lectures offered by faculty from across our campus, the United States, and internationally. Speakers discuss how their research-in-progress addresses an issue of public concern at the intersections of communication and public policy. Follow the links below to review the collection of speakers that the Communication Institute has hosted.

 

Upcoming Speakers:

 

                         

 

AI and Social Media: Challenges in Academic Research and the Dynamics of Misinformation

Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025

Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM

Location: Edna Anderson-Taylor Communication Institute, LNCO 2910

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) manifests in various forms—from social media algorithms to generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini—shaping the content we encounter online. What does that mean for the effect and spread of misinformation on people’s perceptions of scientific and other societally relevant topics?

This talk will address this question by exploring the roles of both algorithms and generative AI. Specifically, it will cover the challenges faced by academic researchers, who often lack access to the necessary data to produce reliable insights due to information asymmetries between social media platforms and researchers. This lack of access hinders theory building. Nonetheless, conducting research in this area is crucial given AI's pervasive role in current information environments. Additionally, the talk will examine public perceptions of content that contains accurate information as well as misinformation produced by a scientist, generative AI, and a scientist using generative AI.

 

 

About Dr. Freiling 

Woman with chin length brown hair and a black shirt slightly smiling at the cameraIsabelle Freiling (PhD, University of Münster) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. She is also a faculty affiliate at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute and the Global Change and Sustainability Center at the University of Utah as well as a One-U responsible AI (RAI) fellow. Her research examines the use and effect of media, in both science and political communication. In particular, her work focuses on social media and misinformation, public perceptions of issues at the intersection of science and politics, public engagement with science, as well as open science.

 

 

 

 

Past Speakers:

 

Last Updated: 1/7/25