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When "Selling Science" misleads the public. Interview with a whistle-blower

By Declan Fahy. Michel Claessens,  former head of communication for the ITER project. What happens when an organisation’s science communication becomes replaced by politically-motivated public deception?   Michel Claessens was in such a situation as part of his work as head of communication between April 2011 and March 2015 for the ITER project, a massive energy project located in the south of France. At the facility, some 33 nations are collaborating to build a nuclear fusion device. It is one of the world’s largest scientific projects, but one, Claessens argues, that has a definite political dimension, including its promotion of nuclear power. Claessens, who was also a former head of communication in the Directorate-General Research and Innovation of the European Commission, details in the May 2025 issue of Public Understanding of Science his concerns over hype, research integrity and the merging of science communication and marketing in publicly funded big science pr...
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A new strategy for public engagement: A short theatrical vignette

 By Massimiano Bucchi. Photo Credit: Flickr A spacious meeting room in a prestigious university.  Vice-Chancellor - Good afternoon everybody and thanks for being here. I am the Vice-Chancellor for Public Engagement. We are here today to discuss how to improve our university public communication and public engagement strategy. Let me briefly introduce the participants: Professor Orange, Department of Physics; Professor Green, Department of Environmental Sciences; Professor Mustard, Department of Computer Science; Professor Turquoise, Department of Political Science; Professor Brown, Department of Statistics; Professor Blue, Department of Philosophy. And of course, Mrs. Black, who heads our communication office.  Mrs. Black - Thank you, Vice-Chancellor. I have asked also Mr. Mellow Yellow to be here with us today. Mr Mellow Yellow is a highly successful influencer and renowned specialist of social media and he is going to help us with his advice. He is a great expert...
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From Big Farms to Big Pharma? Problematizing Science-Related Populism

 By Elisa Lello and Niccolò Bertuzzi. Scientific knowledge and traditional epistemic authorities are the object of growing skepticism in Western societies. Scholars contextualized such a phenomenon into a wider coming to light of an anti-science or post-truth era, in a debate centred on the concepts of epistemic populism and, in particular, 'science-related populism '. Our study focused on popular dissent toward compulsory vaccination and pandemic management policies during the Covid-19 pandemic, a topic which is generally identified, and also by Mede and Schäfer’s work , as a crucial example of science-related populism. We focus on Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and one that, according to the Oxford University Stringency Index, has taken particularly stringent measures to tackle the health crisis. Our work We started from a paradox that has been little studied. While the association of these protests with the right, even the extreme righ...
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To thank AI, or not to thank, that is the question

 By Yuqi Zhu and Jianxun Chu. Image generated by DALL·E and author Have you ever found yourself saying (or at least trying to say) “thank you” to AI assistants, like ChatGPT? If so, have you ever been shocked and wondered why you feel the urge to do so for something that, technically speaking, is lifeless ? After all, there’s no essential difference between AI and other tools in life, like a car, a laptop, or a vacuum cleaner. Yet, that urge just came out of nowhere after receiving a genius answer from AI that fixed the bugs bothering you, or after hearing genuine words from AI when you needed someone to talk to. Is it a common thing, or just a weird act, and does it reflect something deeper? Based on our study recently published on Public Understanding of Science , you’re definitely not alone. Screenshot from Her (2013): a conversation between Theodore (protagonist) and Samantha (AI assistant) A public debate on gratitude toward AI Early in the rise of generative AI, ...
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“Explainable AI” in Science and Technology Communication?

 By Justin C. Cheung and Shirley S. Ho. Image source: ChatGPT Artificial intelligence (AI) is very popular nowadays, from ChatGPT, Apple Intelligence, to digital twin systems, and even autonomous drones. In academia, another term is gaining considerable traction: Explainable AI (XAI) .  XAI is a concept that refers to how well the algorithmic decisions (or behaviors), and the underlying algorithmic model can be understood by lay end-users. It helps people comprehend how AI behaves, which as research has shown, can greatly improve trust and thereby behavioral acceptance. In risk-laden AI applications such as autonomous passenger drones, XAI is all the more important because it has great potential to mitigate unwarranted concerns. At the core of our study , we examined the effects of perceived explainability in autonomous drone algorithms on trust factors. We delineated trust in three dimensions, namely performance (how well the AI operates), purpose (how well the AI’s obj...
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