Teen Science Cafe: The Social Impacts of AI

The Social Impacts of AI with Dr. Francesca Tripodi

Please join us at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center for the last Teen Science Cafe of the school year! In this session, we’ll be discussing the social impacts of AI with Dr. Francesca Tripodi.

About Dr. Tripodi

Dr. Tripodi is a sociologist and information scholar whose research examines the relationship between technology and society. She is an Associate Professor at the School of Information and Library Science at UNC-Chapel Hill and the Founder of the Search Prompt Integrity and Learning Lab. She has twice testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee (April 10, 2019 and July 16, 2019), to explain how search engines are gamed to spread conspiratorial logic and sow political polarization.

Along with her Co-PIs at MIT and Stanford, Dr. Tripodi received a National Science Foundation Accelerator Award in 2021 to study how people find information and build tools to enhance and enable search literacy. In recognition of her impact, Dr. Tripodi received the Award for Impact and Excellence in 2023 from the Center for the Informed Public at the University of Washington. In December 2023, Dr. Tripodi was a featured guest on an episode of Meet the Press to discuss the dangers of online education tools like PragerU. Her work has also been highlighted on All Things Considered (NPR), the Financial Times, and the Associated Press. She has also written about her work in Wired, Slate, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In addition to these featured segments, Dr. Tripodi’s research is regularly cited by esteemed publications like The Washington Post, The New York Times, TIME, and The Guardian. In recognition of her impact, Dr. Tripodi received the Award for Impact and Excellence in 2023 from the Center for the Informed Public at the University of Washington.