🌐 How is AI changing society? @natalihelberger.bsky.social was a speaker at AI and the Future of News 2026, organized by @reutersinstitute.bsky.social, as part of an engaging panel on the impact of AI from perspectives of law, economics, policy, and security. 👉 Read more: tinyurl.com/4j8eetpu

"The biggest threat to democracy is not AI. But anti-democratic forces, often democratically elected. And yes, they may leverage AI in their strategies" My opening at the ADD AI Summit Inspiring, depressing, occasionally uplifting summit @ddc-sdu.bsky.social @algosoc.org @aimediademlab.bsky.social

📊 What would journalism-specific benchmarks for LLMs look like? This question is one of many that @ndiakopoulos.bsky.social, long-time member of our lab, has been working on with colleagues at Northwestern University and the Computational Journalism Lab. Here are some takeaways from his work 🧵

👎️ Explainable recommenders are not very popular with news engineers. @jasminkareem.bsky.social — joint PhD student at @tue.nl and @uva.nl — visited us to share research on how recommender system engineers across different types of news organizations are not very keen on adopting XAI practices.

What is data slicing and what are its implications for machine learning? 👉 Our member @annaschjoett.bsky.social discusses this practice in her new publication in the Cambridge Forum on AI, informed by her fieldwork with data scientists at the BBC developing news recommenders: doi.org/10.1017/cfc....

🎙️ What is the future of journalism in the era of AI, and how do software giants extract value from users? These are the topics of two panels our lab director @natalihelberger.bsky.social is speaking at in the upcoming weeks 👇️

🏆️ The winners of the IViR SF & Information Law writing competition, co-organized by @kimonkieslich.bsky.social and our director @natalihelberger.bsky.social, will be announced soon at #CPDP2026! Until then, stay tuned for the shortlisted pieces coming out on the DigiCon blog:

📅 Last week for submissions to the Natali Helberger award from the Public Tech Media Lab at @uwmadison.bsky.social, founded by our former colleague @tomasdodds.bsky.social! 👉 For PhD students working on public interest tech in journalism, read more on applying: ptml.sjmc.wisc.edu/natali-helbe...

▶️ More on the ELSA way: stakeholder connections, learning from mistakes, and giving nature a voice These are the last few takeaways from the round-tables held at the ELSA Network Day in February, where participants from AI labs across the Netherlands shared their experiences!🧵

🖼️ How to consciously establish content authenticity in the age of genAI? @busedoyu.bsky.social, a postdoc at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), recently visited our lab to present some of their recent research on authenticity and content provenance 👇️

AI chatbots als stem advies is al geen goed idee. Maar voor de lokale partijen #GR2026 pakt het nog slechter uit. Ik gaf commentaar bij @bnr.nl op het onderzoek van de Autoriteit Persoongegevens @aimediademlab.bsky.social @ascor.bsky.social www.bnr.nl/nieuws/nieuw...

🧑‍💻 What makes an ELSA researcher, and how can you truly do inter-disciplinary work? We are back with some insights and conclusions about the ELSA process from two of the five round-tables led by our lab members during our ELSA Network day this past February 🧵

🚨New publication: With @teresaelena.bsky.social we did an expert survey of +/- 100 academics, fact checkers & journalists. We show that experts are mostly, but not always aligned about disinformation in times of generative AI @aimediademlab.bsky.social misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/on-t...

👋 Welcome Philipp Darius to our lab! We are pleased to introduce @philippdarius.bsky.social, our newest postdoc! His research examines the intersection of political communication, digital technologies, and democratic governance. 👉 Read more about Philipp here: www.aim4dem.nl/about-philip...

💥 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐀𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 💥 International survey of 1138 scholars across 77 countries - plus four focus groups - maps the what, how and why. 69.2% already use it for at least one research task, especially writing and literature review. 5 takeaways: medium.com/@hannes.cool...

🛡️ We need to protect academia as a core academic institution! @oscarwestlund.bsky.social paid a visit to our lab last week and held a panel discussion at SPUI25 with @natalihelberger.bsky.social and @theresajseipp.bsky.social, on the topic "Academic Freedom Under Attack". Here are some takeaways 👇️

📣 Our lab member Manel Slokom is looking for study participants as part of her research on privacy-friendly personalized recommender systems! Applied to a Netflix use case, it involves testing a visual interface of a federated recommender model for films & TV. 🎬️ Register here: tinyurl.com/2wfa5u7e

🌐 The 2026 DSA and Platform Regulation Conference: looking back Our lab members made quite a few contributions to the annual conference organized by the @dsaobservatory.bsky.social and @ivir-uva.bsky.social – in the form of papers, panels, and breakout sessions 👇️

🇪🇺 What is the future of the EU's AI regulation? @natalihelberger.bsky.social and @hannahruschemeier.bsky.social are holding a discussion in the Humane Conversations series on the direction of AI legislation in the EU, amidst Digital Omnibus proposals. 📅 03/03 | 15:00 Register: tinyurl.com/4e4mv6hm

👥 We've just had a packed ELSA Network day event! Members of the steering committee & 6 AI ELSA Labs in the Netherlands all gathered to exchange knowledge, showcase latest projects and collaborations, and discuss the central theme of impact. 👉 See the highlights: www.aim4dem.nl/looking-back...

A recent visit to our lab by Mae Sosto, a PhD candidate at @cwi-amsterdam.bsky.social, has sparked conversation on how LLM outputs about European LGBTQIA+ rights policy can be evaluated through research. How can we adapt methodologies to this area of research? 👉 More about Mae: maesosto.github.io

📰 New preprint! By @ferraribraun.bsky.social and @ccs.bsky.social, highlighting the hidden influences of European news media's reliance on the cloud infrastructures of Big Tech. For news work, autonomy is decreasing, while vulnerabilities are increasing. Read here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Lei Nelissen from Studio Falkland recently visited us to discuss Dutch digital autonomy: starting from their online visualizer (zijnwealautonoom.nl) we had conversations on the pain points of reliance on Big Tech, finding alternatives, and scaling efforts. 👉 Read more: www.aim4dem.nl/are-we-alrea...

✨ New publication by lab member @annaschjoett.bsky.social with @nadjaschaetz.bsky.social! This ethnographic study explores how journalists interface with online courses on AI use in the newsroom, what they learn, and how didactic material may be biased. Read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🏛️ The AI-generated visual disinformation being spread by the White House regarding a recent protester arrest is damaging the already dwindling credibility of photos as proof. Our lab director @claesdevreese.bsky.social has spoken with @rtl.nl and @france24.com about this: tinyurl.com/3y3fvbz9

🎙️ Our lab is organizing a panel discussion with @natalihelberger.bsky.social and special guest @oscarwestlund.bsky.social on the global challenges posed to academic freedom. Join to learn why defending it matters! 📍 SPUI25 (and online) 📅 24.02 | 17:00 Sign up for free: www.spui25.nl/programma/ac...

📢 A national AI board is needed in the Netherlands! Our lab directors @natalihelberger.bsky.social and @claesdevreese.bsky.social, and our board member Pascal Wiggers, have signed an open letter asking the government to establish a regulatory body for AI. Read more: www.aim4dem.nl/letter-to-th...

🏆 Our lab co-director @natalihelberger.bsky.social has become the namesake of an award (which is now taking applications)! See more about the Natali Helberger Award created by @tomasdodds.bsky.social, at the Public Tech Media Lab of @uwsjmc.bsky.social: ptml.sjmc.wisc.edu/natali-helbe...

❗ Last weeks to apply to the legal postdoc position hosted by @ivir-uva.bsky.social and AIMD! Our department is looking for a researcher to explore the legal aspects of inclusive technologies for access & social participation. 👇 Apply here, deadline 31 January 2026: werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

👀 Check us out in the 3rd edition of the ELSA labs magazine! With the theme of collaboration, it's a showcase of recent progress of AI ELSA labs in the Netherlands — and our work on AI disclosures and recommender systems is included, with interviews from researchers! 👉 aic4nl.nl/wp-content/u...

🤝 Research collaboration wrapped! Marcio Fuckner, Sanne Vrijenhoek, Suzana Bašić and Manel Slokom, all associated with our lab, worked with NEMO Kennislink to the goal of creating a responsible, AI-assisted content-based recommender system that didn't rely on personal info or behavioral profiles.

💡 Our lab member Theresa Josephine Seipp contributed to this European Audiovisual Observatory report, discussing the implications of journalists' AI use, the impacts of this shift beyond the newsroom & legislative approaches to regulate AI in news work. Read here:

🎆 With the new year in full swing, our lab has some exciting projects, events, and collaborations to look forward to in 2026! Here's part of what's coming from us this year 👇

🖼️ Learn more about how the effects of different types of visual disinformation manifest from this new publication by our lab member, @teresaelena.bsky.social! It compares perceptions of deepfakes, cheapfakes, and genuine videos put in a false context 👇 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Successful workshop takeaways!🧵 Led by @laurensnaudts.bsky.social, @natalihelberger.bsky.social, and @claesdevreese.bsky.social, we consulted with stakeholders to ensure their needs and expertise are well represented in our recommendations to the Council of Europe in an upcoming report on GenAI.

@hannescools.bsky.social wrote an opinion piece about the new National AI plan for @volkskrant.nl, highlighting concerns around its industry-oriented competitive focus, rather than open infrastructures and reducing dependence on US tech. 👉 Read in full: tinyurl.com/3w2mzcc5 See the plan: aiplan.nl

✨ New preprint: The facets of data in news organizations Our researcher @ferraribraun.bsky.social co-authored this study looking at the role of data as the intermediary layer between journalists and AI technologies, and unpacking how it's embedded in practices. Read here: osf.io/preprints/so...

📰 Join our researchers Teresa Weikmann and Sophie Morosoli for a workshop on fake news resilience! Hosted by @waag.bsky.social, this event aims to educate & foster discussion around mis- and disinformation. 📅 4 December | 19:30 📍 Waag Futurelab Schedule & tickets: www.waag.org/en/event/waa...

📚 New publication: the evolving role of journalists as gatekeepers in the age of (gen)AI Lab member @hannescools.bsky.social has a chapter in the upcoming Wiley Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Journalism discussing changes in journalists' roles! Full handbook: www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Ha...

📜 What message is the EU sending in hesitating to implement the AI Act? In this @politico.com article, @natalihelberger.bsky.social gives her input on the dilemma faced by the European Commission in choosing between AI innovation and protecting public interests. Full piece: tinyurl.com/4wb78tbc

👉 Turns out: Dutch people are not that skilled at dealing with (gen)AI. An ASCoR research report co-authored by @claesdevreese.bsky.social on the digital skills of Dutch people found that the population has quite low confidence in their AI abilities — and unfortunately, they're right to think so. 🧵

📩 Missed our newsletter? It's how you can stay up to date about the lab's latest research, join upcoming events, and more. 👉 Sign up here to receive the upcoming November edition: www.aim4dem.nl/newsletter/ Here's the previous edition so you can know what to expect: tinyurl.com/ys757fhd

📖 New OSCE manual: Safeguarding Media Freedom in the Age of Big Tech Platforms and AI With expertise by @natalihelberger.bsky.social and @maxvandrunen.bsky.social, it gives actionable policy advice for protecting media from overdependence on big tech. Read here: www.osce.org/representati...

Europe’s AI Act defines a values-based path for innovation. Natali Helberger, José van Dijck and Claes de Vreese argue that if Europe wants to deliver on its ambitions of technological sovereignty, it must resist pressure to deregulate.

Our member @laurensnaudts.bsky.social gives a word of warning about extremely realistic AI-generated videos and how they can undermine democracy — also available in English: www.folia.nl/en/wetenscha...

🎟️ New event! Join @natalihelberger.bsky.social for her panel at Media van Morgen, organized by @svdj.bsky.social, to discuss the trade-offs news organizations need to make when adapting their presence for online platforms. 📅 06.11 | 13:30-18:00 📍 Leiden Info & tickets: www.svdj.nl/evenement/me...

🌎 Are media publishers too reliant on AI from US tech giants? Listen to this podcast episode featuring @natalihelberger.bsky.social for her predictions on the future of the tech & media landscape, and how we can achieve balance. Full episode: shows.acast.com/ignite-publi...

🗳️ The Dutch elections are here! See what @claesdevreese.bsky.social has had to say about the use of AI, by voters and especially by politicians, and pieces of advice shared in the media in this summary on our website: www.aim4dem.nl/ai-in-the-du....

Curious to learn some of our most recent findings? Here are some new publications from our lab 🧵

"Deze technologie leent zich erg goed voor opgetelde, druppelsgewijze effecten”. Dat zegt Claes de Vreese, hoogleraar AI & samenleving aan de @uva.nl, tegen @pointerkro-ncrv.bsky.social "Je kunt voortdurend iets negatiefs rondom een lijsttrekker of thema oproepen” #tk2025 www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...