Speck&Tech 77 "Change my mind"

Hey Speckers,

Over the past 9 years, Speck&Tech has organized 100+ free events across Trentino, open to everyone, and built on a simple, winning format: two talks on the same theme, tackled from different perspectives.

Now, as we wrap up another successful season, we’re excited to welcome you to the final event before a well-deserved summer break. This time, together with our speakers, we’ll dive into the world of algorithmic recommendations, LLMs, persuasive AI, disinformation, and much more… Welcome to "Change my mind"!

This event will be fully in English 🇬🇧 Access to the venue is reserved for those with a valid ticket, which will be scanned at the entrance of Impact Hub Trentino. If you can’t join us in person, follow the live stream here.

Please find below our amazing speakers:

1. JAMES J. BRUSSEAU
🇬🇧 Predicting the unpredictable: re-engineering recommendation algorithms for freedom, society, and money

ABSTRACT: Recommendation algorithms capture us in our established interests and preferences. How can they be re-engineered to provoke new interests and curiosities? What ethical, social, and economic benefits result from recommendations that are engaging despite being unfamiliar?

BIO: James Brusseau (PhD, Philosophy) is a professor in the Philosophy Department at Pace University in New York City during the fall and winter, and he is a visiting professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Trento in Italy during the spring and summer.

2. RICCARDO GALLOTTI
🇬🇧 Persuasive AI: risks and opportunities in the age of digital debate

ABSTRACT: As large language models like GPT-4 grow more sophisticated, they’re no longer just generating text—they’re shaping opinions. In controlled debates with over 900 participants, AI was often more persuasive than humans, especially when using even minimal personal data. This raises critical questions about AI-driven manipulation, the spread of disinformation, and how we might harness the same tools to build effective, personalized counter-narratives.

BIO: Head of CHuB lab at Digital Society Center. He is an interdisciplinary physicist working on statistical modeling of individual and collective behavior. His research is based on data science and complexity science, with a focus on problems associated with misinformation and decision-making processes, mobility characterization, and the study of public transportation networks.

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