Vidya is as a post-doctoral researcher in the Computational Propaganda Project.
Dr Vidya Narayanan
Researcher
Profile
Vidya recently joined the Oxford Internet Institute, as a post doctoral researcher in the Computational Propaganda Project. She has several years of experience working as a researcher in Artificial Intelligence, with groups at both universities and in commercial environments. Her research interests, lie in the interface between technology, ethics and policy, and she is primarily engaged in developing systems that use technology for the greater good of society. She completed her Phd in Computer Science from the University of Southampton, building adaptive techniques for automated negotiations. Prior to this, she completed her M.S., in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, working on problems in decentralised decision making, specifically in the defence logistics domain. Her basic background is in Mathematics, which she studied at the masters level at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and as an undergraduate at the University of Madras. She has also worked as a scientific coordinator at BAE Systems and as a software engineer at Tech Mahindra. She tweets from @vidunarayanan.
Research Interests:
Impact of AI on society, Machine learning.
Position held at the OII:
- Researcher, November 2017 –
Research
Current projects
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Computational Propaganda
Participants: Professor Philip Howard, Dr Vidya Narayanan, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Samantha Bradshaw
This project will focus on how bots, algorithms and other forms of automation are used by political actors in countries around the world.
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Political Communication, AI and Data Diversity in the US
Participants: Dr Victoria Nash, Professor Philip N. Howard, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Dr Vidya Narayanan
This project investigates contemporary trends in political communication, political polarization, artificial intelligence, and data diversity in the United States.
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Strengthening Digital Democracy
Participants: Dr Victoria Nash, Professor Philip N. Howard, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Dr Vidya Narayanan
This programme supports research into the use of computational propaganda in developing democracies, our management of strategic relations with industry, government and civil society stakeholders, and capacity transfer to civil society groups.
News
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Oxford experts launch new online tool to help fight disinformation
10 December 2019
Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, have launched ‘The ComProp Navigator’, a new online resource guide which aims to help civil society groups better understand and respond to the problem of disinformation.
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Junk news and misinformation prevalent in Indian election campaign
13 May 2019
Data from public WhatsApp and Facebook messages shows large volumes of “junk news” being shared on social media channels by supporters of India’s main political parties
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Bulk of social media content supports climate change research
28 November 2018
The majority of content and commentary being shared on social media supports the scientific consensus on climate change, according to new research from the Oxford Internet Institute.
Blog
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Russia and Brexit
19 December 2017
Author: Vidya Narayanan
Several prominent UK politicians are concerned about the role of Russian troll and bot accounts in public conversation over social media during the Brexit ...
Read More Russia and Brexit
Integrity Statement
I conduct my research in line with the University's academic integrity code of practice.