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Artificial intelligence’s rapid adoption and growing technological power affect nearly all aspects of the political science graduate student research process. This virtual workshop, organized by the APSA Committee on the Status of Graduate Students in the Profession, offers a timely and thoughtful discussion on AI's impact on political science research, the tools political scientists are currently utilizing, and the challenges and ethical considerations involved in incorporating AI into academic work. The event is scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2026, from 12:00 PM (ET) / 9:00 AM (PT) and will have a run time of 75 minutes.
This virtual workshop brings together a distinguished panel of experts to discuss the profound implications of AI in graduate-level political science research. The session will be co-moderated by Arica Schuett from Emory University and Daniel De Kadt from the London School of Economics. Additional esteemed panelists contributing their insights include Lisa Argyle from Purdue University, Rachel Gillum from Stanford University, Yamil R. Velez from Columbia University, and Yiquing Xu, also from Stanford University. Each panelist will share their unique perspectives on how AI is transforming methodologies, presenting both opportunities and challenges for current and future political science scholars.
Arica Schuett is a Ph.D. candidate in American politics at Emory University, where her research delves into the complex interplay of political attitudes, race, and data science. Her academic work notably foregrounds Black political agency, evident in her analyses of contemporary Black voting trends, conceptualizations of local mobilization strategies from 2020, and investigations into the role of gentrification in shaping political attitudes and electoral participation, with a specific focus on Black residents. Her research contributions have been published in prestigious journals such as 'Urban Studies' and 'PS: Political Science & Politics'. Schuett has garnered substantial financial support from APSA for her methodological and subfield training, including participation in the Institute for Civically Engaged Research and the APSA Dissertation Workshop on Black Politics. She is currently serving as the co-chair of APSA’s Committee on the Status of Graduate Students in the Profession for the 2024-26 term, actively shaping discourse around graduate student concerns.
Daniel de Kadt is a prominent social and data scientist based at the London School of Economics, holding a doctoral degree from MIT. His academic and professional journey spans both academia and industry, enriching his interdisciplinary approach. Substantively, his research focuses on critical areas such as democracy, inequality, and the intricate political landscape of South Africa. Beyond these core interests, de Kadt also dedicates his efforts to topics concerning meta-science, reproducibility in research, and advanced causal inference methodologies. His diverse expertise allows him to bridge theoretical political science with cutting-edge data analysis techniques, making him a valuable voice in discussions about AI's role in research.
Lisa P. Argyle is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Purdue University. Prior to her current role, she was an Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University and conducted postdoctoral research at Princeton University, having earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Argyle’s research elegantly merges political psychology with computational social science to analyze political attitudes and participation within the United States. Following the widespread introduction of GPT-3 in 2020, her research priorities have significantly shifted towards generative AI. She actively explores how Large Language Models (LLMs) can be leveraged as potent tools to enhance social science research and bolster democratic societies. Her overarching scholarly objective is to employ surveys, experiments, and advanced artificial intelligence tools to gain a deeper understanding of how individuals engage in political discourse in their daily lives, and crucially, how to improve the quality and constructiveness of these conversations.
Rachel Gillum is an accomplished executive specializing in AI governance, Trust & Safety, and national security policy. Her work is concentrated on the careful governance, deployment, and fostering of trust in advanced technologies, particularly in high-stakes environments. She is the architect and leader of Salesforce and Slack’s global AI policy, platform safety, and human rights governance function. In this capacity, she oversees critical areas including content safety, Trust & Safety operations, and the responsible deployment of AI products and agents. Her team's core mission is to translate emerging risks, regulatory expectations, and public trust concerns into practical policies, robust safeguards, and clear decision frameworks for one of the world’s leading enterprise software companies. Gillum also holds the prestigious position of Co-Chair of the American Political Science Association’s Presidential Task Force on AI, Politics and Political Science, and is an affiliated scholar at Stanford University. Her extensive peer-reviewed academic work covers national security, political identity, public trust, and emerging technology, including forthcoming research on AI with Cambridge University Press. Her insights have been widely featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, and Reuters. She holds a PhD in political science from Stanford University.
Yamil Ricardo Velez is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. His research program investigates the critical influence of political information quality on political engagement and representation. His most recent and innovative work explores the transformative potential of generative artificial intelligence to deepen our understanding of public opinion, particularly through the application of adaptive surveys. Velez’s significant contributions to the field have been published in top-tier journals, including the 'American Political Science Review', 'American Journal of Political Science', 'Journal of Politics', 'British Journal of Political Science', and 'Political Analysis'. He actively contributes to the academic community by serving on the editorial boards of the 'Journal of Experimental Political Science' and 'Political Psychology'. Before joining Columbia, he held faculty positions at George Washington University and Wesleyan University. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stony Brook University, solidifying his expertise in political methodology and public opinion.
Yiquing Xu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University, with a forthcoming promotion to Associate Professor (with tenure) effective July 1, 2026. His research expertise spans two key areas: political methodology, with a particular focus on causal inference, and comparative politics, where his work often centers on China. Xu completed his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2016. Earlier in his academic journey, he obtained an MA in Economics from the National School of Development (NSD) at Peking University in 2010 and a BA in Economics from Fudan University in 2007. Prior to joining Stanford, he served as faculty at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) from July 2016 to September 2019, bringing a wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge to his current role.
This virtual workshop is proudly supported by the APSA Committee on the Status of Graduate Students in the Profession. The committee is dedicated to fostering the professional development of political science graduate students by offering accessible and high-quality opportunities, including a series of virtual workshops and webinars. It is essential to note that all views and opinions expressed by the presenters and contributors during APSA virtual workshops and webinars are exclusively their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stances or policies of the American Political Science Association. For any general inquiries regarding this or other initiatives, please contact membership@apsanet.org.