13/08/2026, Essen
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The College for Social Sciences and Humanities will host communication researcher Dr Felix M. Simon from Oxford University as Invited Fellow in September 2026. During his stay, he will explore how agentic AI systems can be aligned with democratic values in the domain of information and news provision.
Felix M. Simon will be visiting the College by invitation of the Scientific Board. He is Research Fellow in AI, Information and News at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute and a Junior Research Fellow in Politics at Corpus Christi College at the University of Oxford (UK). As a political and communication scientist, he investigates the societal impacts of AI, especially on the information ecosystem, the media, and democracy. In his recent work, Felix Simon examined how AI transforms the work of news organisations: “While the technology can help improve efficiency and the quality of news, these effects are neither consistent nor do automatically improve the quality of information that the public receives,” he explains.
During his visit, Felix Simon will continue working on a normative framework that includes criteria for democratic alignment of agentic AI systems producing and providing news and public information. This will lay the groundwork for conducting surveys in the USA and UK to analyse citizen expectations regarding these AI systems and their epistemic role.
Felix Simon is strongly interested in connecting with researchers at the University Alliance Ruhr and beyond who work in related fields: “Essen and the broader Ruhr region host a remarkable concentration of scholars working at the intersection of technology, society, and communication. I am grateful to the College for inviting me and I look forward to the opportunity to exchange ideas, build enduring relationships and discover one of Germany’s most interesting regions.”