Frontier technologies
We need technologies that drive positive change
The possibilities of AI are endless. The time to shape them is now.
The position of the London School of Economics and Political Science as a world-leading university specialising in the social sciences makes us uniquely placed to guide AI advancement, understand our emerging AI-powered world and ensure technological progress benefits humanity.
Professor Helen Margetts OBE FBA FAcSS, Director of the LSE Data Science Institute (DSI) working alongside her Co-Director, Professor Cosmina Dorobantu, is transforming the DSI into a world leading Global Institute for Technology and Society (GIFTS). The Institute is our bold plan to place the social sciences at the heart of AI development.
We are seeking founding partners to help us bring our ambition to life and provide the pivotal investments which will underpin the success of GIFTS.
As AI reshapes our economies, institutions, and public life, we need to understand how these technologies can be designed and governed in ways that serve society. This means bringing social science insight directly into how AI is developed, examining how it is changing our world, and using AI tools to open up new ways of understanding people and societies.
People shape the future of technology – not the other way around.
The impact of technology on our lives is widely discussed. Artificial intelligence is reshaping our economies, societies and institutions. As we navigate this technological transformation, we must remember that AI is created by people, powered by data from people, and ultimately affects people. People are at the core of the AI revolution.
LSE is the university uniquely positioned to guide technology for all.
The social sciences are the keydisciplines that allow us to understand people – from our individual behaviours to the complex socio-economic systems we create. Despite this, they still do not have a big enough role in the study, development and deployment of emerging technologies, and these new technologies are not yet driving discovery within the social sciences as they are in the hard sciences.
Professors Helen Margetts and Cosmina Dorobantu articulate in their blog exactly Why AI needs social science .
AI will generate a whole range of social and policy questions requiring the attention of social scientists, from the effects of large language models on education to the impact of AI on labour markets.
LSE is the perfect institution to change this. We have world-leading expertise in organisational theory, competition, cooperation, incentives, law, philosophy, behavioural science and more, which we can feed into the design of new technologies before they populate our workplaces, schools, hospitals and homes. We have over 130 years of knowledge and data which can train AI to fuel new discoveries in the social sciences. And our connections across governments and civil society enable us to inform new policies that ensure technologies improve lives and help solve global challenges, rather than making things worse.
The Data Science Institute is the hub for data science and AI at LSE. The Institute supports interdisciplinary research, hosts a wide programme of events, and facilitates policy engagement and advisory work that places social science expertise at the heart of the design, development, and deployment of AI.
The future of AI is being written now. Help us shape it.
We are very thankful for the visionary philanthropic investment of £3.7 million to DSI by alumnus Stuart Roden (BSc Economics 1984) and his family in 2022. This generous gift has enabled the DSI to become the focal point at LSE for multi-disciplinary collaboration between data and social sciences to pioneer new solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. We are now very excited to be building on DSI's transformational success with the establishment of the Global Institute for Frontier Technologies and Society and we look forward to partnering with you as we shape technology for the common good.
To find out how you can help contact us at shapingtheworld@lse.ac.uk
AI news and research from LSE
Below are some examples of the ground-breaking research and technological innovations that LSE is working on.
New research, data, funding, and initiatives on AI and labour markets
News from the 2026 Global Forum for AI and the Social Sciences: How AI is reshaping work and what governments, firms, and workers must do to prepare for the changes ahead.
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Special report showcasing AI research at LSE
At LSE we seek to understand emerging AI technologies and their societal, economic, and political ramifications through our research, teaching, and outreach, convened by the Data Science Institute.
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Global Forum on AI and the Social Sciences
Thanks to a $2 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation, LSE will establish an annual forum to convene dialogue and mobilise expertise, resources, and partnerships to ensure AI serves human and societal needs.
Join inHow scholarships at LSE support tomorrow's changemakers in an AI-powered world.
The social sciences don’t just explain the world – they give us tools to build a better one. Your support empowers students who can become the world leaders we all need.
For my dissertation, I am researching Labour Politics in the Age of AI, specifically the concept of “reskilling” and how economic narratives rationalise institutionalising further precarity for working and middle-class employees.
Outstanding students need your support to become the leaders shaping the future of AI
Learn more about our scholarship programmes.
We need to shape AI’s impact before markets shape it for us
The future of AI is being written now. Your support helps us research how people and societies can flourish alongside innovation.
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