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Social Sciences

What makes an AI livestreamer seem real?

What makes an AI livestreamer seem real?

New research from Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication examines 15 months of livestreams from AI livestreamer Neuro-sama and proposes a new framework of what makes AI feel authentic.

Why students leave community college
Estefanie Aguilar Padilla conducting fieldwork at a community college.

Penn GSE doctoral student Estefanie Aguilar Padilla conducting fieldwork at a community college. 

(Image: Courtesy of Penn GSE)

Why students leave community college

At Penn’s Graduate School for Education, doctoral student Estefanie Aguilar Padilla’s work with associate professor Rachel Baker reveals why students walk away—and how colleges can help them stay.

From Penn GSE

2 min. read

How to incentivize problem solving in groups
Artist rendering of several people conected with string stretch their connections to the limit, testing the strength of unity.

Image: Flavio Coelho via Getty Images

How to incentivize problem solving in groups

Why do some groups get smarter together while others collapse into groupthink? New research from theoretical biologist Joshua Plotkin and collaborators show that collective intelligence doesn’t emerge by rewarding the most accurate individuals but by rewarding those who improve the group’s prediction as a whole.

3 min. read

New report unpacks the crises facing American journalism and offers solutions
A row of newspaper boxes, mostly empty.

Image: RiverNorthPhotography via Getty Images

New report unpacks the crises facing American journalism and offers solutions

A report co-authored by Annenberg School for Communication professor Victor Pickard traces the erosion of the free press in the United States over the past two decades.

From Annenberg School for Communication

2 min. read

Early modern literature in the Black Atlantic world
Alyssa Smith

Alyssa Smith, MCEAS Consortium Fellow at the McNeil Center.

(Image: Courtesy of The McNeil Center for Early American Studies)

Early modern literature in the Black Atlantic world

How Alyssa Smith, a McNeil Center for Early American Studies Consortium Fellow is turning to Penn for her research.

From The McNeil Center for Early American Studies

2 min. read

Penn GSE partners to launch $26M AI grants program advancing K–12 education

Penn GSE partners to launch $26M AI grants program advancing K–12 education

This new program will fund the development of openly shared datasets, models, and other digital resources so developers, school districts, and educators can build safe, effective, and equitable AI tools for K–12 teaching and learning.

From Penn GSE

New model could help police departments reduce excessive force incidents

New model could help police departments reduce excessive force incidents

Criminology professor Greg Ridgeway has developed a model that estimates an officer’s likelihood of using a higher level of force than peers in similar situations—an improvement on existing early-intervention systems that don’t account for differences in time and location.

3 min. read

Planning ahead in an age of longevity
An elderly person holding a baby while blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

Image: Daniel Balakov via Getty Images

Planning ahead in an age of longevity

Tamara J. Cadet of the School of Social Policy & Practice discusses strategies for preparing—financially and physically— for an extended lifespan.

3 min. read

Most would recommend RSV immunizations for infants, older adults, and during pregnancy

Most would recommend RSV immunizations for infants, older adults, and during pregnancy

In a nationally representative panel survey, Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center found an increase in awareness of immunizations that are available for RSV; about 6 in 10 respondents would recommend the vaccine or antibody injections to the groups recommended by the CDC, an increase from past years.