Business Management - AI Ethics, Social Media Platforms
Supervisor: Dr Atif Sarwar
Bio: I am a lecturer in Technology Management. My main research area of interest is studying technologies' sociological and ethical implications for society—particularly the intersection of technology, work, organisation, and society, and exploring the relationship between advanced technologies and social, societal, and organisational change. I am particularly interested in studying the relationship between technology and work and how technology use shapes the nature of work and organisational transformation. Recently, he has been studying the introduction of intelligent technologies such as AI in professional service firms, its impact on the work of professionals and the organisation of PSFs.
I have published in journals such as the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Management Studies, and Organisation Studies.
Email: atif.sarwar@liverpool.ac.uk
School: Management
Department: Business Management
Module code: ULMS201
Suitable for students of: Most social science or humanities disciplines, e.g. Management, Business, Sociology
Desired experience or requirements: N/A
Places available: 2
Start dates: Session 1 (15th June 2026)
Virtual option: Yes
Hybrid option: Yes
Project length: 8 weeks
Project description:
The growing integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into social media platforms has transformed not only the production and distribution of content and information but also how it is consumed. GenAI has enabled the production of large-scale GenAI-produced text, images, and videos that are often difficult to distinguish from human-generated content. This has resulted in social media platform users to consume AI-generated content without knowing anything about its origin, quality, authenticity, or credibility, thereby raising concerns about the trustworthiness of these platforms and the content they provide. Whilst previous research has focused on how algorithms enable content production and how algorithmic curation can lead to misinformation, there is a gap in our understanding of the impact of GenAI-generated content on the users’ perception of social media-provided content.
From an AI ethics perspective, this has resulted in new challenges for platform accountability, transparency, and AI governance. This makes it critical to understand the users’ evaluation and perception of this GenAI-generated content, and how it shapes their online content consumption.
This study will primarily rely on qualitative methods of interviews and focus groups (though this part will be student-led, so there is flexibility). The students can expect to carry out tasks involving literature review, research design, data collection and data analysis.
Additional Requirements: N/A