The Social Technologies Lab at Cornell Tech designs, builds, and studies social systems focusing on topics related to Technology, Media and Democracy. We use a variety of methods, from machine learning and data science to online experiments and qualitative user interviews to understand how we can build a trustworthy information ecosystem.
Professor
PhD Candidate
PhD Student
PhD Student
From smart-replies to video filters, the recent advent of AI-Mediated Communication – communication in which an intelligent agent operates on behalf of a communicator by modifying, augmenting, or generating messages to accomplish communication goals – raises new questions about how technology may shape human communication. Our research agenda around AI-MC considers the design of these technologies and the psychological, linguistic, relational, policy and ethical implications of introducing AI into human–human communication.
We use a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques to understand the threats to healthy information ecosystems and design effective mechanisms to counter them. As a lab, we develop new techniques to understand the impact of issues such as online harassment, algorithmic bias, or problematic content financing. We also test potential solutions, often through running experiments that focus on moderation efforts, platform nudges or longer-term treatments.
We explore the challenges brought by misinformation to the trust and interpersonal aspects of society, and potential means to establish credibility in the digital world. We study the spread of visual misinformation, the role of images in this context, and the usage of visual similarity matching for the purpose of tracking misinformation stories. Working together with methods from computer science, social science, and other fields, we study the digital present of our society to build a sustainable foundation for the future.
