Congratulations to Semra Sevi who is among the Arts & Science Collaborative Research Funding Program (2025) winners!
Along with Yang Xu (Computer Science) and Can Mekik (Psychology) their project, The impact of AI-driven conversations on political attitudes, will explore how AI-driven conversations influence people's political beliefs on issues like climate change, conspiracy theories and public policies such as carbon taxes and tariffs in Canada. The project’s goal is to understand if AI can change people's political opinions and whether these effects last over time. The research will also investigate why AI is effective, looking at factors like personalized content, trustworthiness and emotional appeal.
Launched in 2024, this program provides seed funding to support new cross-disciplinary research collaborations between tenure stream faculty members from across the faculty’s academic units and disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. The program supports novel collaborative research projects that advance new ways of thinking about research questions, ideas, approaches and methods, while providing students and scholars with valuable experience in an interdisciplinary research environment. “Research at the Faculty of Arts & Science is truly worldclass, so it’s a privilege to support and bolster interdisciplinary efforts,” says Stephen Wright, acting dean of the faculty. “This program enables our top researchers to combine their skills to generate leading-edge research with real-world implications. This year’s projects are fascinating, combining fields such as statistical science and earth science, sociology and philosophy of science and technology, political science and computer science, and other intriguing partnerships. These opportunities span the breadth of Arts & Science disciplines, and enable new and important cross-talk across fields.”
Combining insights from political science, psychology, computer science and cognitive science, this project will provide a deeper understanding of how AI can impact political discussions, especially in today’s polarized environment. This research has the potential to improve public policy, inform democratic processes, and help address challenges like misinformation.