Julian Gierenz
PhD Student in Political Science • AI-Enabled Democratic Facilitation • Computational Social Science
Hi! I’m a PhD student at the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences studying how artificial intelligence might help make democratic deliberation more inclusive.
I’m fascinated by how technology could help strengthen rather than weaken democracy. This interest grew out of seeing how digital spaces often fail to live up to their democratic promise - they either amplify existing inequalities or create new ones. My goal is to flip this script: can we use AI to actively support more inclusive democratic spaces?
What I’m Currently Working On
I combine methods from computational social science with democratic theory to:
- Develop AI systems that can detect subtle patterns of exclusion in group discussions
- Create datasets that help us understand what makes deliberation truly inclusive
- Test different ways AI could support human facilitators
Research Interests
- Democratic Innovation: How can we make democracy work better for everyone?
- AI & Democracy: Using technology to enhance rather than replace human deliberation
- Computational Social Science: Applying data science to understand social dynamics
- Digital Democracy: Exploring how emerging tech could transform democratic participation
Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in any of these topics - I’m always happy to chat!