Distinguished Lecture Series

Timothy Tangherlini uses a computational folkloristic approach to analyze conversations on the social media platform Parler leading up to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

Jevin West breaks down the threats of scientific disinformation, predatory publishing and pseudoscience, the reproducability crisis, and generative AI.

Alvitta Ottley examines the role of machine learning algorithms in expediting visual analysis, revealing data patterns, and fostering the discovery of novel insights — and confronts the risks of data bias, interpretability, and user trust.

Drawing from work in law and design, Ryan Calo uses dark patterns, robots, generative artificial intelligence, and other examples to evidence the problem of socio-digital vulnerability.

Daniel S. Weld outlines the principles and pitfalls of effective human-AI interaction.

Tadayoshi Kohno charts the evolution of computer security over the past 20 years and makes some predictions for the future.

Alessandro Acquisti’s research estimates how much consumer data is worth, who profits from it, and what difference privacy laws make.

Kate Starbird is a leading expert on how people use social media to seek, share, and make sense of information and misinformation.

David Rand is a leading expert in the psychology of misinformation. Rand is a systems biologist and psychologist and runs MIT’s Human Cooperation Lab.

Jessica Hullman is a leading expert in information visualization and uncertainty. Hullman is an information scientist and computer scientist by training, and an associate professor at Northwestern University.

Legal scholar Katerina Linos discusses how government and international organization actions can create information vacuums, creating space for misinformation to spread among migrants and refugees.

Jeff Hancock is a leading expert on technology’s role in deception and trust. Hancock is a psychologist and a professor at Stanford University in Communication.

We are awash in disinformation of lies, conspiracies, and now a new form of manipulated media — so-called deepfakes. Hany Farid explains how deepfakes are created and how to tell truth from fiction.

Distinguished Lecturer Roy Bahat is the president of the online media and gaming company IGN Entertainment.