Research Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Education
- Doctoral Degree
- Master's Degree
- Bachelor's Degree
Biography
Luca Luceri has a background in data and network science, with a focus on using AI and machine learning for social good. He began his academic journey with a Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Bari (2009-2012), followed by a Master's from the Polytechnic University of Milan (2012-2014). He then pursued a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Bern, Switzerland (2015-2020), which set the stage for his future research.
After earning his Ph.D., Luca joined the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) at the University of Southern California (USC) as a Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2023), later becoming a Research Scientist (2023-2024). Currently, he serves as a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science and as a Lead Scientist at ISI, where his work centers on AI, computational social science, and human-machine interaction.
Luca is co-Principal Investigator of the DARPA-funded INCAS project, focused on detecting and tracking geopolitical influence campaigns, and the Swiss NSF-funded CARISMA project, which develops computational models to support policy recommendations for mitigating online harms. Before his USC appointment, he worked as a Research Scientist at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (2020-2022).
Luca has authored academic papers in top-tier international conferences like Web Science Conference, The Web Conference, International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM), International Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), and HyperText. He has authored book chapters and journal papers in leading venues like EPJ Data Science, Journal of Computational Social Science, Applied Network Science, Online Social Network and Media, and First Monday. Luca's work has been widely covered by the media and earned several accolades, including best paper and presentation awards at The Web Conference 2024, and the 2024 ISSNAF Young Investigator Embassy of Italy Award for Research in Artificial Intelligence.
Research Summary
Driven by the escalating threats posed by modern communication technologies, social media, and AI, Luca's research is dedicated to identifying, analyzing, and mitigating online harms within socio-technical systems. His work spans two key areas.
First, he applies AI and machine learning to detect and analyze coordinated inauthentic behavior and orchestrated influence campaigns on social media platforms. Second, he uses network and data science to examine the vulnerabilities of organic social media users, exploring the mechanics of influence, the spread of misinformation, and the processes of internet-fueled radicalization.
Luca's long-term research goal is to strengthen the resilience of the digital information ecosystem. This includes not only advancing technical solutions but also considering ethical and legal frameworks for social media regulation. Ultimately, his work aims to develop effective mitigation strategies that can curb online harms and protect vulnerable users from manipulation and abuse.
