Department of Sociology
Facing AI: Research Opportunities and Challenges in Today's Social Sciences
Location: Seminar Room, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford
Organisers: Fanqi Zeng (University of Oxford), Xiaoguang Fan (Zhejiang University)
This in-person workshop will feature 14 presentations from scholars across various social science disciplines. Please register to attend here.
Programme
Day 1 - Thursday 18th December
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 09:30 - 10:00 | Arrival & Coffee | |
| 10:00 - 10:10 | Welcome & Opening | Colin Mills, University of Oxford |
| SESSION 1 - Chair: Fanqi Zeng | ||
| 10:10 - 10:45 | AI's Impact on the Research Paradigm of Sociology | Xiaobin He, Tsinghua University |
| 10:45 - 11:20 | Opportunities and Limitations of Generative AI for Social Science | Michael Heseltine, University of Oxford |
| 11:20 - 11:40 | Break | |
| 11:40 - 12:15 | Embracing the Large Language Model Era: Computational Sociology and the New Synthesis | Xiaoguang Fan, Zhejiang University |
| 12:15 - 14:15 | Lunch | |
| SESSION 2 - Chair: Chao-Yo Cheng | ||
| 14:15 - 14:50 | How AI Empowers Social Surveys: Opportunities and Limitations | Zhiming Sheng, Shanghai University |
| 14:50 - 15:25 | Beyond Academic Nationalism: Forging China's Autonomous Knowledge System in the AI Era | Jie Huang, Nanjing University |
| 15:25 - 15:45 | Break | |
| SESSION 3 - Chair: Michael Heseltine | ||
| 15:45 - 16:20 | Can AI Capture Cultural Differences? Testing the Performance of LLMs on Detecting Collectivism in China | Chao-Yo Cheng, Birkbeck, University of London |
| 16:20 - 16:55 | Using AI to Model Future Societal Instability | Fanqi Zeng, University of Oxford |
Day 2 - Friday 19th December
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 09:30 - 10:00 | Arrival & Coffee | |
| SESSION 4 - Chair: Pinghan Liang | ||
| 10:00 - 10:35 | A Tutorial on Agent-Based Models: from NetLogo to Julia programming | José Ignacio Carrasco, University of Oxford |
| 10:35 - 11:10 |
Large Language Models for Visual Content Analysis in Political Contexts: Exploring Scalability, |
Linda Li, LSE |
| 11:10 - 11:30 | Break | |
| 11:30 - 12:05 | Great Expectations: Policymakers' Adolescent Experience and Policy Decision | Pinghan Liang, Sun Yat-Sen University |
| 12:05 - 13:20 | Lunch | |
| SESSION 5 - Chair: Xiaobin He | ||
| 13:20 - 14:20 | Title TBC | Charles Rahal, University of Oxford |
| 14:20 - 14:40 | Break | |
| SESSION 6 - Chair: Zhiming Sheng | ||
| 14:40 - 15:15 | Modelling the Involution-Cooperation-Lying Flat Game with Large Language Models | Chaocheng He, Wuhan University |
| 15:15 - 15:50 | Imagining New Forms of Belonging with AI - A Socio-Technical Design | Yao Xiao, Imperial College |
| 15:50 - 16:25 | Using LLMs to Measure the Ideological Orientation of Academic Social Science Research 1960 - 2024 | James Manzi, University of Oxford |
| SESSION 7 - Chair: Xiaoguang Fan | ||
| 16:25 - 17:00 | Open Discussion |