Resources on AI in social research
In response to recent innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), NCRM is publishing online resources that explore the ways in which the technology is influencing social research. Researchers can access these resources using the links below, or search the NCRM training database to browse our range of short courses on AI.
In addition to these activities, NCRM's Director, Professor Gabriele Durrant, is leading a new AI skills project that aims to develop core skills training in AI methods. Read about the project.
Videos
NCRM is producing a series of In Conversation videos in which leading researchers discuss AI-related issues from a variety of perspectives. Topics covered by the videos include AI tools in education research, conversation analysis, working collaboratively with computer scientists and large language models in survey research.
The NCRM Annual Lecture 2024 discussed the challenges that AI poses to social research. The keynote speaker, Professor Noortje Marres of the University of Warwick, presented a new set of methods and strategies that social researchers across disciplines have developed to address these challenges: situational mapping.
Publications
NCRM published a briefing paper that gives an overview of recent advances in AI. It outlines potential future scenarios and discusses the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for social science, focusing particularly on generative AI.
The paper is one of several briefings that NCRM has produced as part of its Methods Futures project. The initiative explores factors, including technological and research-related developments, that may impact social research.