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Feedback on the conference "Social Science and Generative AI"

Take a look back at the "Social Science and Generative AI: Inquiries, Instruments, Consequences" conference organised by the médialab on 5 June 2025. International speakers discussed the epistemological and ethical issues surrounding the emergence of generative AI and explored its role in academia and society in general.

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On 5 June, the médialab organised a one-day conference devoted to the development of generative AI and its role in the social sciences. The various presentations examined the way in which these new research tools interact with existing approaches to the study of social life, and explored the options open to researchers.


See the full video of the event:

Iframe https://player.vimeo.com/video/1098162905?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

 

After an opening by Luis Vassy, Director of Sciences Po, and an introduction by Sylvain Parasie, Director of the médialab, the first part of the conference looked at the question of data and models, a panel introduced by Ismail Harrando. Veronica Barassi, Djamé Seddah and Etienne Ollion presented their research, from different disciplinary perspectives, on the limits of using generative AI to produce knowledge in the social sciences.

In the second part of the conference, introduced by Emma Bonutti d'Agostini and devoted to methods and approaches, Maria Antoniak and Adam Hayes reported on their use of large language models for quantitative and qualitative research in the social sciences.

Finally, the third part of the conference, entitled “Public Value and Consequences” was introdueced by Carlo Santagiustina. Fabian Ferrari presented Europe's role in the AI race, while Lauren Frederica Klein looked at the provocations of the human sciences for generative AI research.

To conclude, two postdoctoral researchers at the médialab presented their current projects linked to LLMs:

  • Democratic Commons project, commented by Manon Berriche: this project stands as a pioneering program for research, development, experimentation, and provision of generative AI solutions as digital commons to enhance democratic processes. The consortium aims to revolutionize citizen engagement by simplifying access to information, offering cutting-edge tools for contributions to complex multilingual democratic debates and by implementing Large Language Models (LLM) tailored to effectively support democracy.
  • Ecologies of LLM practices, presented by Gabriel Alcaras: this project creates a space of inquiry to document the role of LLMs in various professional practice(s) and the consequences arising from their use. This investigation aims to highlight the “savoir-faire”, expertise, and values of workers rather than those of AI designers or economic decision-makers.


 

Thank you to the various speakers at the event and to the many people who attended this fascinating conference on a subject that is at the heart of so many questions.

Watch all the video productions from the médialab on Vimeo