Dramatic rise in publicly downloadable deepfake image generators
7 May 2025
New Oxford study uncovers explosion of accessible deepfake AI image generation models intended for the creation of non-consensual, sexualised images of women.
Latest News
Adolescents with mental health conditions use social media differently than their peers, study suggests
6 May 2025
One of the first studies in this area to use clinical-level diagnoses reveals a range of differences between young people with and without mental health conditions when it comes to social media – from changes in mood to time spent on sites.
13 ways gaming affects your mental health – for better and worse
30 April 2025
New Oxford study offers roadmap for understanding video games’ complex impact on wellbeing
Next Events
15
May
Studying online ‘adoption advocacy’: The digital representation, monetisation and transfer of children in the USA
15:30 -16:30, 1 St Giles
With Dr Isabelle Higginsexplores how children deemed eligible for adoption in the USA are represented and monetised by a range of digital ‘adoption advocates’, including governments, private adoption agencies and adoptive parents.
Four Graduate Degrees
Academic Spotlight
Find out more about the research of OII academics
Nick Ballou
Postdoctoral Researcher
Nick Ballou is a postdoc researching how video games affect mental health both for better and for worse, and how to make psychological research on games more trustworthy.
Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation
Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is the OII's Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation. His research focuses on the role of information in a networked economy.
Dr Sabrina Norwood
Postdoctoral Researcher
Sabrina studies the relationship between online environments and well-being. Her research includes creating and testing digital behavioural interventions to enhance user autonomy and digital literacy.
Publication Spotlight
By Mariarosaria Taddeo
The defence sector must address how to use advancing AI safely and effectively. Mariarosaria Taddeo offers a systematic analysis of AI’s challenges in defence, providing recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners.
Latest Projects
Conversations between governments and citizens in a digital society
This project seeks to understand how citizens listen and speak to public institutions, and how alternative AI-based models and framing might encourage democratic communication.
The Promise of AI in Childcare
With mobile devices ubiquitous among young people, it is not surprising that parents are increasingly turning to technology for help in childcare. This project examines monitoring technologies and how parents use them as part of child supervision.
Understanding the Causes of the Reverse Personal Computing Revolution
The shift to cloud represents a reversal of the 1980s personal computing revolution: computation is moving from personal devices back into large, centralized facilities. This project seeks to understand the economic drivers of this reversal.
Latest report
By Andres Raieste, Andri Rebane, Madis Tapupere, Keegan McBride
In a world increasingly defined by crises—from pandemics and climate disasters to escalating wars—governments that fail to build digital resilience risk crumbling under pressure.
Press Coverage
Mark Zuckerberg made us lonelier. Now he wants us to be friends with AI
Daily Telegraph, 07 May 2025
Social media leaving you feeling more isolated? The Facebook founder thinks chatbots can help.
Why experts say AI companions aren’t safe for teens — yet
Mashable, 04 May 2025
Youth mental health and safety experts are most worried about these AI companion features.
Oxford University uncovers ‘dramatic rise’ in deepfakes
Oxford Mail, 07 May 2025
The lead author of a new Oxford University says there is an 'urgent need' for more controls to tackle the rise of deepfakes.
Latest Podcast
The science behind successful start-ups
Fabian Braesemann and Paul McCarthy discuss the impact of founder personalities on startup success, how a predictive model outperforms industry standards to predict company success, and what factors can help us predict which startups will succeed.
