Pieter Verdegem awarded British Academy/BRAID Innovation Fellowship, working with Ofcom

18 June 2025
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Image by Google DeepMind / Pexels

 

Dr Pieter Verdegem has been awarded an Innovation Fellowship as part of the British Academy’s Route B: Policy-Led (Digital Society) programme, in collaboration with the Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) initiative.

 

The BRAID partnership “aims to leverage diverse insights and connect a range of stakeholders to help build the expertise, capacity, and resources required to address complex problems within today’s digital society and responsible AI ecosystem” explains the Academy. The fellowships enable a select group of researchers to undertake 12-month projects in collaboration with policymakers in central government.

 

Dr Verdegem will collaborate with Ofcom on research project titled: “How AI impacts on public trust about information.” The award, worth £94,286.06, is supported by funding from the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It also provides Dr Verdegem with access to BRAID’s wider fellowship network, which connects academics with stakeholders from tech companies, research institutes, advocacy groups, and cultural institutions.

 

The research will explore several urgent questions, including:
  • The actual vs perceived current use of AI within the media industries, and the extent to which its use is being questioned, modified, rejected by the workforces within these industries, and for what reasons.
  • The kinds of media literacy/critical understanding needed to navigate AI-generated information, including news content.
  • The impact of AI-generated information upon levels of trust in news content, especially in relation to potentially susceptible groups.

 

This recognition highlights Verdegem’s leadership in media and AI research and reinforces the University of Westminster’s commitment to engaged, impactful scholarship that addresses real-world digital challenges. Many congratulations to Pieter.

 

Learn more about the fellowship and the award here.

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