In an increasingly digital world, online platforms have transformed our primary means of communication and interaction. As such, platforms enable intersections between technological innovation, culture, and human behavior. Manoel Horta Ribeiro, the new Assistant Professor in Princeton University’s Department of Computer Science, can’t help but dig deeper into the implications of these interactions. Ribeiro joined the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) in January 2025. Before arriving at Princeton, Ribeiro was part of the Data Science Lab at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. His work is concentrated at “the intersection of computational social science, artificial intelligence, and social computing.”
In a recent interview with undergraduate students Tsion Kergo ‘26 and Jason Persaud ‘27, Manoel Horta Ribeiro shared his research interests in investigating the evolving landscape of digital platforms – specifically honing in on how generative AI is influencing such platforms.
Ribeiro explains, “I’m very interested in online platforms; I’m interested in how we can improve our information ecosystem.” He continues, “We have this flood of models that now everyone has access to — from ChatGPT to MidJourney —and in the years to come, I want to understand how they change the rules of the game in online platforms change.”
Perceptions of AI-Generated Content on Online Platforms
When asked more about perceptions of AI-generated content, Ribeiro frames them as partially cultural. “Perceptions of AI-generated content are, to some extent, cultural. How we perceive AI and the things that we associate AI with are socially constructed.”
He further points out a potential consequence of easy content creation, emphasizing that on the notes of the ongoing “flurry of AI-generated content on sites like TikTok and YouTube shorts.” He elaborates, “it sometimes feels that this content is the lowest value content. But perhaps we can also use AI to help better align social media feeds to the content we actually want to consume.”
Cultural Values & the Role of Friction in Relation to AI
In examining the broader cultural landscape, Manoel discusses how societal values influence technology adoption. He contrasts privacy standards across regions by observing that “privacy standards are lower in the U.S. than in some places in Europe. So if you go to Germany, people don’t use Gmail because they fear Google looking up their messages and so on.”
He also reflects on the inherent role of friction online, noting that “a lot of things that exist in society rely on friction.” He elaborates by using the example of how AI enables voice scams: “[Voice scams] are way easier to do now than before, right? You can clone someone’s voice and call them and do things that seem very realistic — we have to think about what to do about this.”
Such a perspective illuminates how the ease of online navigation and tools powered by AI can implicitly enable malicious actions.
Interdisciplinary Research & Data-Driven Approaches
Ribeiro’s academic journey is rooted in interdisciplinary research – key to deeply understanding and reshaping digital platforms. He recalls his early work, stating, “During my doctorate, I mostly worked on content moderation…And that’s why I want to do research in academia – because here we’re able to think about how things could be different.”
In terms of the future, he outlines innovative strategies to capture digital behavior, such as his data-driven projects: “I have a few projects in the pipeline where the idea is to buy people’s data…so we can gather super interesting and important information about users’ behavior.”
Advice for Interested Students
For those interested in diving into digital research, Manoel offers practical advice on navigating interdisciplinary fields. He encourages engagement with experts and mentors, underscoring: “There are a lot of faculty – you can find them on the CITP website – who could be interesting to work with to do independent work.” He continues, “Taking one of those classes, getting involved with the professor, maybe doing independent work, could be a great way to get involved and to do research on this eventually.”
Ribeiro’s insights serve as a powerful reminder that the digital ecosystem is ever-evolving, especially thanks to AI becoming more accessible to users. His reflections and research challenge us to rethink how we go about interacting with online platforms and AI.
Jason Persaud is a Princeton University sophomore majoring in Operations Research & Financial Engineering (ORFE), pursuing minors in Finance and Machine Learning & Statistics. Tsion Kergo is a Princeton University junior majoring in Computer Science, pursuing minors in Machine Learning & Statistics and African-American Studies. Both work at the Center for Information Technology Policy as Student Associates piloting a new series called Meet the Researcher.
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