Matthew R. DeVerna

I'm a computational social scientist studying how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way people find information and form beliefs online. I combine large-scale data analysis, audits of AI systems, and experiments to understand how these technologies shape what we see, what we believe, and how we act — often in domains like public health and politics where the stakes are highest. My current work focuses on AI-powered search, social media platforms, and conversational AI systems like chatbots.

I am currently a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford's Tech Impact and Policy Center (formerly the Cyber Policy Center), working with Dr. Jeffrey Hancock in the Social Media Lab. I have a PhD in Informatics from Indiana University, where I worked with Dr. Filippo Menczer at the Observatory on Social Media. Before that, I earned an MA in Psychology from New York University, where I collaborated with Dr. Josh Tucker at the Center for Social Media and Politics and was advised by Dr. John Jost.