Intelligent Systems Podcast: Michael Colaresi on Data, Democracy, and Digital Agency
In this episode of the University of Memphis Institute for Intelligent Systems’ Intelligent Systems podcast, Dr. Leah Windsor speaks with Dr. Michael Colaresi about the changing politics of information in the digital age. They discuss how data collection, surveillance, targeted advertising, and opaque computational systems can reshape democratic social learning, empower digitally capable autocracies, and affect individual privacy and agency. The conversation also considers the role of universities in responsible data science, interdisciplinary collaboration, public education, and the development of technology that better protects people rather than merely extracting value from them.
About Dr. Michael Colaresi
Dr. Michael Colaresi is Associate Vice Provost for Data Science at the University of Pittsburgh, where he leads the Responsible Data Science Initiative. He is also the William S. Dietrich II Professor of Political Science, Assistant Director of the Center for Research Computing, and co-founding director of the interdisciplinary Computational Social Science major.
Colaresi began his academic career as a political scientist and international relations scholar focused on war, conflict, and rivalry. His work has since grown into computational social science, bringing together political science, computation, data science, and responsible technology. He is especially interested in how information systems, digital platforms, and data-driven tools influence governance, democracy, public trust, privacy, and real-world policy outcomes.
No responses yet