S. Shyam Sundar is the James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects and a co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State. He is also the director for the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence. His research investigates social and psychological effects of technological elements in digital media, from websites and social media to smartphones and robots. His research includes extensive examination of online sources and fake news on a variety of platforms. He also studies human responses to machine sources such as chatbots, smart speakers, and other forms of artificial intelligence.
Sundar is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and recipient of the Paul J. Deutschmann Award for Excellence in Research from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He is a frequently cited source on technology who has testified before Congress as an expert witness.
Penn State Professor Shyam Sundar on the use of AI tools in education
from WPSU July 27, 2023
Regulating AI: 3 experts explain why it’s difficult to do and important to get right
from The Conversation April 3, 2023
Some Twitter users hate Fleets. Here's why new features are usually despised.
from NBC News November 18, 2020
"Social media is kind of inherently prone to bandwagons. In fact, that's how social media survives." - S. Shyam Sundar
Can't put down the phone? How smartphones are changing our brains — and lives
from NBC News December 14, 2018
"We are likely to be less deliberate in our tweets and online posts when composing them on our phones compared to our laptops." - S. Shyam Sundar
Fight the filter: Snapchat selfies distort users’ self-image
from USA Today August 18, 2016
“I think in general, people with low self-esteem tend to be more concerned about their image on any media and they more carefully craft it in order to project their best identity.” - S. Shyam Sundar
Penn State professors get $300,000 to create fake-news detector
from Salon August 31, 2017
Why Do Older People Love Facebook? Let’s Ask My Dad
from The New York Times May 14, 2016
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