"There are loads of AI institutes springing up everywhere, but the OII remains rather unique." - Professor @helenmargetts.bsky.social at the OII's 25th Anniversary Founding Stories Panel.
Helen Margetts
@helenmargetts.bsky.social
Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford and the Alan Turing Institute, trying to make sense of governance and democracy in a digital world #public policy #digital government #data science #AI #democracy #behavioural science
ICYMI: Study: 38% open up to AI about relationships, finds new research from @oii.ox.ac.uk. Lead author Dr Florence Enock. Co-author @helenmargetts.bsky.social. Read the piece: www.thedeepview.com/articles/stu...
Study: 38% open up to AI about relationships
Emotional support and advice have long been difficult to come by, prompting a growing number of people to turn to AI for more help. The Oxford Internet Institu...
thedeepview.com
Two TT jobs in technology and democracy at Northeastern’s Dublin Innovation Institute with the great @davidlazer.bsky.social urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...
Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Dublin Innovation Institute
About the Opportunity Job Summary: Northeastern’s Dublin Innovation Institute invites applications for two open-rank faculty positions at the Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor...
urldefense.com
"My hope would be that policymakers would look at this report and start to think about where they should put resources, commission research, to make good policy and regulation," says Prof. @helenmargetts.bsky.social. Learn more about the report here: internationalaisafetyreport.org
International AI Safety Report
internationalaisafetyreport.org
The notion that child sexual abuse imagery is on a par with “woke” political criticism is patently absurd. Regulating sexual content online "will be a game of catch-up, like every technology spiral before, but it will have to be played." By @helenmargetts.bsky.social
Regulating Sexual Content Online has Always Been a Challenge. How we got Here
It takes something really horrible for policymakers to take swift action.
politicalquarterly.org.uk
The notion that child sexual abuse imagery is on a par with “woke” political criticism is absurd. Regulating sexual content online "will be a game of catch-up, like every technology spiral before, but it will have to be played." @helenmargetts.bsky.social politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/regulat...
Regulating Sexual Content Online has Always Been a Challenge. How we got Here
It takes something really horrible for policymakers to take swift action.
politicalquarterly.org.uk
💡New! Regulating sexual content online has always been a challenge – how we got here, by @helenmargetts.bsky.social and Cosmina Dorobantu of @lsedatascience.bsky.social. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Regulating sexual content online has always been a challenge – how we got here | LSE British Politics
Finding ways to regulate sexual content online has always been a challenge. But Artificial Intelligence platforms like Grok have supercharged the challenge.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Where Cosmina Dorobantu and I discuss how free speech arguments are so often used as an excuse for not controlling the enduring problem of sexual content takeover of tech innovations @oii.ox.ac.uk @lsedatascience.bsky.social theconversation.com/regulating-s...
Regulating sexual content online has always been a challenge – how we got here
Policymakers have generally been extremely slow to do anything about the problem.
theconversation.com
In 2012, an anti-Obamacare law enshrined that “each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions” in Wyoming. That language just inadvertently saved abortion in the state. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/oO9Vxs
How an Attack on Obamacare Saved Abortion in Wyoming
In the most conservative state in the U.S., libertarianism can lead in surprising directions.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
ICYMI: Catch @helenmargetts.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk's interview with Mustafa Suleyman, guest editor of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, reflecting on the human dimension of AI and how it affects our everyday lives. Listen now: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... (Interview at 2hrs 50mins).
Today - Mustafa Suleyman Guest Edits Today - BBC Sounds
AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman is the fourth Today guest editor this Christmas period.
bbc.co.uk
AI needs social science. Cosmina Dorobantu and I explain why in a new blog post @lsedatascience.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Why AI needs social science | British Politics and Policy at LSE
AI is about humans, that's why it needs to be shaped not just by computer science, but by social science.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
"The risk of inequity is always there, wherever you've got AI" Anya Pearson asks @helenmargetts.bsky.social, Professor of Society and the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute, about digital government and the opportunities and challenges of AI.
"The Risk of Inequity is Always There, Wherever You've Got AI": Interview with Helen Margetts
Anya Pearson interviews Helen Margetts on the relationship between digital technology and government, politics and public policy.
politicalquarterly.org.uk
AI needs social science. Cosmina Dorobantu and I explain why in a new blog post @lsedatascience.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Why AI needs social science | British Politics and Policy at LSE
AI is about humans, that's why it needs to be shaped not just by computer science, but by social science.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
What can AI do for policy making and public services? Cosmina Dorobantu and I @oii.ox.ac.uk forward key possibilities in this new blog - great to be at the Labour Party Conference to discuss @lsedatascience.bsky.social @labourlist.bsky.social labourlist.org/2025/08/arti...
'From passports to policymaking: where AI can boost the public sector' - LabourList
The public sector in the UK employs almost six million people. The sheer size means that, in theory, the scope for benefits from AI-driven innovation is huge.
labourlist.org
New paper alert! ‘The levers of political persuasion with conversational AI’, lead author @kobihackenburg.bsky.social co-author @helenmargetts.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk @socsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk.
Kobi Hackenburg@kobihackenburg.bsky.social · last yr.Today (w/ @ox.ac.uk @stanford @MIT @LSE) we’re sharing the results of the largest AI persuasion experiments to date: 76k participants, 19 LLMs, 707 political issues. We examine “levers” of AI persuasion: model scale, post-training, prompting, personalization, & more! 🧵:
I am so proud of the brilliant @oii.ox.ac.uk DPhil @kobihackenburg.bsky.social and this wonderful “bees-knees” paper on conversational AI and political persuasion @AISecurityInst - it is a “must-read”, comments welcome!
Kobi Hackenburg@kobihackenburg.bsky.social · last yr.Today (w/ @ox.ac.uk @stanford @MIT @LSE) we’re sharing the results of the largest AI persuasion experiments to date: 76k participants, 19 LLMs, 707 political issues. We examine “levers” of AI persuasion: model scale, post-training, prompting, personalization, & more! 🧵:
Earlier today, we hosted Danielle Allen, @helenmargetts.bsky.social and @ciaranm.bsky.social to discuss how AI could affect democracy. Watch a recording of the event 👇
AI and democracy
Artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to transform many aspects of our lives in the coming years. One of these is the functioning of the democratic syste...
youtube.com
Those big, beautiful eyes! A tiny owl braving the winter snow, perfectly camouflaged in its snowy perch. Nature's little marvel. 📸 mon_regard_sur_la_nature
How could AI affect democracy? Are there opportunities as well as dangers? And how should policy-makers respond? On 15 May, our star-studded panel made up of Danielle Allen, @helenmargetts.bsky.social and @ciaranm.bsky.social will discuss just this. Sign up for this free, online event 👇
AI and democracy
An expert panel discusses how the rise of artificial intelligence could change democracy in the coming years.
ucl.ac.uk
I just want to tip my hat to the crack team of White House economists who were able to discover--in just a few short days--that the U.S. is dependent on China for smartphones, computers and semiconductors.
If you are posting about migrants applying for visas, why would you use a stock photo of people arriving on small boats, clearly without visas? Come on guys. This is beneath you.
The Times and Sunday Times@thetimes.com · last yr.The number of migrants applying for visas to the UK has fallen by more than a third over the past year in a sign that net migration is set to tumble from record levels
This morning my phone asked me insistently whether I wanted to send a ‘running late’ message to the person I am meeting at lunch time tomorrow. Is that predictive capability - will I be late? Or is it a sign that the age of useful agentification is not quite here?
A lovely two days @wepsocial.bsky.social Anniversary Workshop, thank you everyone!
West European Politics@wepsocial.bsky.social · last yr.We are very happy to host the WEP 5️⃣0️⃣th Anniversary Workshop @lmumuenchen.bsky.social today & tomorrow! Great presentations, intense debates & we are grateful for colleagues all around the globe joining us. Sessions on: 👉elections, parties, mobilization 👉welfare politics 👉🇪🇺 👉policy & administration
📈Out today in @PNASNews!📈 In a large pre-registered experiment (n=25,982), we find evidence that scaling the size of LLMs yields sharply diminishing persuasive returns for static political messages. 🧵:
Don’t know your DeepMind from your DeepSeek? I’m chairing this upcoming ‘Ask the Experts’ event on AI featuring @amoorelouise.bsky.social, @helenmargetts.bsky.social & Giles Pavey. In person tix all gone but you can still register online www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/the-a...
It was great fun making this podcast with @uclspp.bsky.social @conunitucl.bsky.social ‘s Alan Renwick @dorobantu.bsky.social & Jonathan Bright talking about our work at the Alan Turing Institute and @oii.ox.ac.uk
Political Quarterly@politicalquarterly.bsky.social · last yr.It's the latest episode of 'Uncovering Politics'. How far could AI tools help to tackle stagnant public sector productivity? What are the dangers? @helenmargetts.bsky.social, Cosima Dorobantu and Jonathan Bright discuss. https://buff.ly/4jUQgEm @ucl.ac.uk @uclpolicylab.bsky.social