Empirical Work in the Age of AI

EVENT / PT / Oberndorf Event Center, Stanford / In-person

Stanford social scientists share insights and perspectives about how AI is redefining research

A reimagined version of a famous artistic scene depicting a muscular human figure reclined on a rocky surface, reaching out toward a robotic arm that is extending towards him. The background features a textured, muted atmosphere reminiscent of classical art, with a blend of earthy tones.

There is a lot of discussion about AI fundamentally changing the way social science research happens. Some argue that AI can already outperform some or most professors. Others believe the profession will remain largely unchanged in both structure and practice. Empirical Work in the Age of AI is a special event at Stanford University designed to explore these changing tides in a forum for graduate students and interested faculty.

Co-organized by the Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Business, the Economics Department, and Stanford Impact Labs, the event will take place on Friday April 17 from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm at the Oberndorf Event Center on the Stanford campus at 655 Knight Way. Five Stanford social scientists will each present for approximately 30 minutes, followed by a 60-minute open discussion.

Topics addressed and questions engaged will include (but are not limited to):

  • Practical issues concerning how to get started with Claude Code. Attendees are encouraged to try installing Claude Code before the event. 
  • What human capital would I be investing in if I were a PhD student today? How is the publication and paper writing process going to change? What is the point of social science in a world of super-intelligent AIs?
  • How do AI agents behave as researchers and how we can align them better? What is the current frontier of agentic prediction with AI and what might it mean for the design of an agentic research lab?
  • Early attempts at AI-assisted computational verification and large-scale reproducibility audits, and what they imply for empirical and methodological research, with examples from cross-field assessments of empirical studies.
  • How to use generative AI in experiments.

 

Speakers

  • Susan Athey, The Economics of Technology Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business
  • Matthew Gentzkow, Landau Professor in Technology and the Economy, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences
  • Andrew Hall, The Davies Family Professor of Political Economy, Stanford Graduate School of Business
  • Rose Tan, Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences
  • Yiqing Xu, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences

 

Co-organizers

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