[Mic Matters

Is human behavior truly predictable? Or does the data just mirror our own rigid norms?

In this episode of Mic Matters, we sit down with Prof. Bernd Resch (IT:U Linz / Harvard University) to investigate the emerging field of Geo-social AI.
We explore how machine learning models are now aggregating vast streams of public data - from social media feeds to geolocation information - to map the invisible pulses of our phygital world. This is a conversation about the tension between the predictable system and the unscripted human, relying on past patterns to navigate future chaos. While this technology offers powerful tools for disaster management and urban planning, it also raises critical questions about the ethical boundary between collective safety and individual privacy.

Further info:
AIFER Field Exercise:    • AIFER Field Exercise  
IT:U Digital City Studio: https://it-u.at/en/digitalcitystudio/
Google Scholar Profile Bernd Resch: https://scholar.google.com/citations?...
ORCID Profile Bernd Resch: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2233-6926

Key Topics:
Definition and scope of Geo-Social AI: remote observations and predictions through interdisciplinary methodologies
Data sources and methodologies: social sensing, geographical context, and physiological data
Key usage cases: real-time situational awareness for disaster management
Ethics, privacy, and data intimacy: data collection, and collective patterns for Geo-Social AI
AI development: speculations about the future, and interactions between art and technology

About our guest: Bernd Resch is a Professor at IT:U (Interdisciplinary Transformation University) and a visiting researcher at Harvard University. His research focuses on the fusion of human and machine intelligence, specifically analyzing how geo-social data can reveal hidden patterns in urban environments.

Context: This discussion was developed within the framework of the "Digital Networks of Conspiracy" research project. Events in Romania supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest.