Felix M. Simon is a communication researcher and doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), a Knight News Innovation Fellow at Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, and an affiliate at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also works as a research assistant at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) and regularly writes and comments on technology, media, and politics for various international outlets.
As a former journalist and now member of the Leverhulme Doctoral Centre “Publication beyond Print”, he has been researching the implications of AI in journalism and the news industry since 2019, jointly supervised by Prof Ralph Schroeder and Prof Ekaterina Hertog and formerly supervised by Prof Gina Neff. His doctoral project is generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust and an OII-Dieter Schwarz Foundation doctoral award. More specifically, his research seeks to understand the structural implications of artificial intelligence, including forms of generative AI such as ChatGPT and DALL:E, for news organisations’ gatekeeping processes—the production and distribution of news—and the public arena.
Studying these questions will not only enhance our understanding of how news organisations and journalists think about, adapt to and deal with a technology that, at first glance, seems to be all about de-emphasising their role in the news; it will also inform our theories of what a future of the news could look like as the industry is battling uncertainty on several fronts. Ultimately, this project also hopes to provide answers about AI’s effect on journalism’s business models and viability as well as its wider ramifications on the public arena of news, and thus society and democracy.
Felix has published, among others, in New Media & Society, Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, The Information Society, International Communication Gazette, Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, International Journal of Press/Politics, the International Handbook of Internet Research and Transformative Works and Cultures and has co-authored various research reports on topics ranging from innovation in the media to COVID-19 misinformation.
He has presented work at various conferences, including ICA and the International Journalism Festival and is an experienced moderator of academic and industry panels. His research and commentary has appeared, among others, in The Guardian, The Washington Post, Politico, Financial Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Nature, New Statesman, Business Insider, CNN, and the BBC. He has given evidence to inquiries of the UK House of Lords and House of Commons, press regulator IMPRESS, and the United Nations, and frequently advised media organisations on AI.
In May 2023, he was awarded the Hans Bausch Media Prize by German public broadcaster SWR in cooperation with the Institute for Media Studies at the University of Tübingen for his work on AI and news.
His past and current research focus on AI in the news, political communication in the digital age, big data in politics and the entertainment industry, as well as the changing nature of journalism and the media in the 21st century. In addition, he takes an active interest in populism and the future of mis- and disinformation studies. He regularly reviews articles for a range of journals, including for Digital Journalism, New Media & Society, or the International Journal of Communication.
Felix graduated with a BA in Film and Media Studies as well as English Studies (Distinction) from Goethe-University Frankfurt, and he holds an MSc in Social Science of the Internet from the OII. During his previous studies, he was funded by the renowned journalism programme of the German Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation. He is currently a fellow at the Salzburg Global Seminar and an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and sits on the AI and Local News Steering Committee of Partnership on AI.
Before returning to the OII for his doctoral studies, Felix worked as a journalist, editor and researcher in London. Past work experience also includes the BBC and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) in London and Innsbruck.
Journalism, News, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Political communication, Media and cultural industries, Populism, Mis- & Disinformation.
This programme supports research in the sphere of AI & Work.
This project studies the adoption, use, and effects of AI in commercial and public service news organisations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
This project will engage key stakeholders in the UK news industry in a public symposium to address urgent and pressing questions about news production in the age of AI.
My research and doctoral work is currently supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the OII-Dieter Schwarz Foundation award, Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, the Minderoo-Oxford AI Governance Challenge Fund, and the Balliol Interdisciplinary Institute. In the preceding five years I have also worked as a research assistant or researcher on projects supported by the Deutsche Telekom Foundation, European Broadcasting Union, European Journalism Observatory, Google News Initiative, Facebook Journalism Innovation Project, IPPI/Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Nuffield Foundation.
During this period, I have also engaged unpaid consultations with several organisations including the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, the UK House of Lords and House of Commons, IMPRESS, the United Nations, TUM School of Management, Goethe-University Frankfurt, the Tow Center at Columbia University, the BBC, the Daily Telegraph, Meta, The Guardian, and the Associated Press.
I sit on the AI and Local News Steering Committee of Partnership on AI, which is funded from philanthropy and corporate entities and for which I receive an honorarium. In 2023, I participated in an expert survey run by YouTube for which I received an honorarium.
I conduct my research in line with the University’s academic integrity code of practice.
By Felix M. Simon and Luisa Fernanda Isaza-Ibarra
How might AI be used and regulated in the news to the benefit of journalists, news organisations, and the public? This report presents findings and recommendations from the Minderoo ‘AI in the News’ project.
By Amy Ross Arguedas and Felix M. Simon
Generative AI stands to reshape journalism and society. What will these effects be Can we protect democratic values? This report presents findings from the 'Automating Democracy' project and open questions to be addressed as AI unfolds its effects.
8 September 2023
A new working paper finds that leading news organisations regulate the use of AI in journalism in similar ways. But a closer analysis of AI guidelines also reveals blind spots.
6 March 2023
The technology is a chance for the news if used wisely, argues Felix Simon, doctoral researcher, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
23 May 2022
How AI could give technology giants more control over the news, Felix M. Simon, doctoral candidate, Oxford Internet Institute, explains more.
2 August 2021
An ‘infodemic’, the claim goes, threatens to undermine responses to the pandemic and, ultimately, vaccination efforts. But the term ‘infodemic’ itself is not backed up by science, and its use can potentially do more harm than good.
INMA, 25 September 2023
You have no doubt heard about various news media companies that have started to work internally on establishing guidelines for their use of AI — generative and otherwise — in their organisations.
Columbia journalism review, 26 September 2023
Artificial intelligence tools will likely change the face of news and the media industry, says the AP’s Aimee Rinehart.
Frankfurter Rundschau, 26 September 2023
How does artificial intelligence contribute to the news we consume every day? This has been stipulated by various media in AI regulations. Much of it is laxly formulated.
Senior Research Fellow
Ralph Schroeder has interests in shared virtual environments and the sociology of science and technology. His current research is related to digital media and populism, climate change online, AI and social theory, and the internet in China and India.
Associate Professor in AI and Society
Ekaterina Hertog is an Associate Professor of AI and Society at Oxford Internet Institute and Institute for Ethics in AI. She studies how the rising digitalisation is reshaping private lives across the world.
