The online information environment is pervasive in human life, shaping outcomes across fields ranging from mental health, to disaster response, to consumer behavior to trust. And it is shifting rapidly as new technologies (e.g. generative AI) shift how we produce and consume information. Science is not keeping pace with the scale of challenges or speed of changes because the scientific community has not built shared infrastructure that takes advantage of economies of scale in data collection, software development, and managing complex ethical, privacy, and security considerations. This talk will consider why no one is maintaining systems that could support the field as a whole but are too expensive and time-consuming for any one research lab, and discuss lessons learned from Princeton’s efforts to chart a path to scientific infrastructure that is a better fit for this critical environment.

Bio:

Jacob N. Shapiro is a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University and directs the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project. His research on conflict, economic development, and security policy leverages a range of high-resolution data from administrative records of combat events, to satellite imagery, to call data records from cellphones. Shapiro received the 2016 Karl Deutsch Award from ISA, given to a scholar younger than 40 or within 10 years of earning a Ph.D. who has made the most significant contribution to the study of international relations.

In-person attendance is open to Princeton University faculty, staff and students. This talk will not be livestreamed or recorded.

If you need an accommodation for a disability please contact Jean Butcher at  at least one week before the event.

Sponsorship of an event does not constitute institutional endorsement of external speakers or views presented.