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Jun 4, 2026 Isabelle Freiling Faculty Fellow, Spring 2026

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Briefly describe your project and the challenges, lessons learned, and obstacles overcome in the execution of it. What were the professional, academic, and personal motivations underlying your project?

Emerging sciences and the technologies they enable present increasingly high stakes and high uncertainties regarding both desired outcomes and unintended consequences. My project investigates these complexities by exploring how people react to AI-driven threats, such as societal disruption through contributing to job losses or increased polarization. I am specifically investigating how the public situates these risks geographically by examining whether the perceived origin of a threat, specifically from domestic versus foreign actors, influences their level of concern. This research provides a timely vantage point for incorporating public perspectives into the current regulatory vacuum, ensuring that future AI governance is informed by the actual public concerns before these threats fully manifest.

How did the Digital Matters Faculty Fellowship dovetail with your academic pursuits? What interested you in applying for this grant?

Much of my work focuses on how people perceive emerging science and technology, which serves as a critical foundation for developing effective science communication. AI is a topic I am currently researching extensively because it is highly relevant to society, allowing this project to align seamlessly with my broader research interests.

Additionally, my work focuses on current online information environments and is often interdisciplinary. I therefore appreciate the Digital Matters Fellowship program, as it offered an opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange with other Fellows who are navigating similar challenges in the digital landscape.

What insights have you gained in regard to your specific field as a result of your project and grant experience?

My project has provided critical insights into how the public understands emerging technology. Our analysis reveals that who gets blamed for AI’s negative impacts shapes how people perceive its threats in some cases, but not in all. When job losses were blamed on a foreign actor, people viewed AI as a broad threat to themselves and society. But if the blame went to a domestic company or no one in particular, people only worried about the threat to the workforce. Reading about AI fueling polarization made people worry about its threat to public debate, but it didn’t change their overall view of AI threats—regardless of who was blamed.
We also looked at how these fears translate into action. Unsurprisingly, higher fears of any kind came with less support for AI research. However, support for policy was a mixed bag: people who feared AI’s impact on the workforce or saw AI as a general threat supported AI regulation. But worrying about AI’s impact on democracy and public debate didn’t mean people wanted more regulation.
This shows that the public treats workplace threats and public debate threats very differently when thinking about policy. Ultimately, this fellowship emphasized the need for digital scholarship that bridges the gap between academic research and the complex ways the public processes information in their daily lives.

What would you tell potential faculty applicants to help them shape their own digital scholarship project?

Clearly articulate the societal relevance and broader vision of your project! Digital scholarship should not exist in a vacuum; instead, it offers a powerful mechanism for connecting academic insights to the real-world challenges facing our communities today. I believe that Digital Matters deeply values research that gives back to society, as demonstrated by the program’s emphasis on public-facing blog posts. Therefore, you should strive to show how your project can bridge the gap between academic research and the public, for example, by proposing work that addresses pressing societal issues.