Hunter Priniski, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA

Creative projects: newsage · Vitality AZ · mediaslop

The early internet promised to connect the world. We are more psychologically, socially, and digitally connected than ever — yet our communications and social ties feel increasingly fractured. Why does frictionless technology increase friction between minds, groups, and narratives? I aim to address this question through experimental research, community narrative interventions, and local media and technology.

I apply experimental cognitive psychology, data science, and creative placemaking to research how humans use computers and built spaces to communicate, connect, and create. Through experiments on networked groups of humans, AI agents, and hybrid combinations, I study how narrative agency emerges through social decision-making, language, and causal reasoning — and how cognitive processes interact with network structure to determine which narratives groups align on. I translate these methods into computational and ephemeral narrative installations: applying AI language embedding to visualize alignment across diverse personal narratives, and helping communities establish contexts where members can record and share their memories.

Below are selected research projects across my data science methods, experiments, and theoretical work. This Python notebook on measuring narrative alignment demonstrates the core methodology. Visit the Research Portfolio for additional themes. Full publications on Google Scholar. Reach out: priniski@ucla.edu