Emilio Ferrara

Emilio Ferrara is a Professor of Computer Science and Communication at the University of Southern California (USC), holding joint appointments in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Department of Computer Science and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He also serves as a Principal Scientist at the USC Information Sciences Institute and leads the Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MINDS) group and the HUMANS Lab, focusing on socio-technical systems and AI ethics.

His research bridges artificial intelligence, network science, and computational social science, addressing challenges such as disinformation, bot detection, and online behavior dynamics. Supported by grants from DARPA, IARPA, and the Air Force, Ferrara has authored over 150 publications, including seminal works on social bot operations, extremist propaganda, and misinformation campaigns.

• Education: PhD in Computer Science (exact institution not specified in texts)

Key research interests include analyzing socio-technical systems, studying the impact of technology on communication, and developing tools to combat online manipulation. Notable projects include detecting coordinated bot activity in elections, understanding ISIS propaganda dynamics, and auditing AI-driven content moderation.

His awards include the Viterbi Junior Research Award (2019) and DARPA Young Faculty Award (2016). Ferrara advises a diverse team of PhD and MS students in computer science and communication, focusing on interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of AI and society.

Labs and initiatives include the MINDS research group and HUMANS Lab, which investigate ethical AI, misinformation, and human-machine interactions. Current work explores generative AI's societal risks, coordinated inauthentic activity on platforms like TikTok, and algorithmic bias in large language models.