News

Fernando Pérez to co-lead UC Berkeley’s new Schmidt Center for Data Science and the Environment

BIDS Faculty Affiliate Fernando Pérez will co-lead the new Schmidt Center for Data Science and the Environment (DS4E) at UC Berkeley.  The new research center will combine data science and environmental science to address environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity – e.g. developing models to predict wildfires and building tools that optimize carbon capture methods – with a focus on practical, replicable, open-access solutions scaled for society’s benefit.

The data lifecycle problem: An opportunity for data scientists

Mobile phone data and machine learning improve targeted humanitarian aid in Togo

BIDS Research Affiliate Daniela Ushizima leads research team working toward safer energy storage technologies

UC Berkeley Launches AI Policy Hub

BIDS Faculty Affiliates Guilbeault and Holtz awarded 2021-2022 research grants from Berkeley Haas’ Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (EGAL)

AI-synthesized faces cross the "uncanny valley"

Artificial intelligence (AI)–powered audio, image, and video synthesis has democratized access to previously exclusive Hollywood-grade, special effects technology. From synthesizing speech using anyone’s voice, to synthesizing an image of a fictional person and swapping one person’s identity with another, or altering what they are saying in a video, AI-synthesized content holds the power to entertain but also deceive. So-called "deep fakes" are also being weaponized for the purposes of nonconsensual intimate imagery, financial fraud, and disinformation campaigns.

Evictions, Moratoriums and Rent Relief

Immigrants and refugees: Untapped data science potential

This article is cross-posted with  Immigrants and refugees: Untapped data science potential February 8, 2022  |   Accenture Strategy & Consulting Wendy Chan, Fernando Constantino, Kristina Shahoian, Alexandre de Siqueira, Marsha Fenner, Ciera Martinez, Jennie Murray, Fahad Alnimah ___________________________

“I don’t believe you. So what if it is true? You are not one of us.” — The disinformation challenge and what it really is about

Before this academic year I have been working in the European Commission, the European Union institution with a prerogative for policy initiatives. In 2017, when a new Bulgarian Commissioner, Maryah Gabriel, was nominated, my unit’s world changed overnight from a tranquil unit funding European media and social media research into a policy unit in charge of the European Commission’s disinformation policy.