The Artificial intelligence in resilience (AIR) thematic working group is inviting SocSES members to join the planning committee of the first “AI Methods in Resilience Research” hackathon to produce reusable knowledge and frameworks – an initiative to improve methodological clarity and responsible use of AI in resilience research.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the hackathon’s planning committee, complete the online form here.

What is this event?

This is a hybrid hackathon where participants will learn, test, critique, and co-develop AI methods for resilience research by focusing on interpretation, ethics, and methodological rigour through competitive challenges, workshops, and seminars.

What is a hackathon?

Traditionally, hackathons involve 24-48 hours of intense, caffeine-infused brainstorming, coding, and production to solve a thematic challenge in the computer science and engineering fields.

For us, the hackathon will be a guided, calmly-spirited collaboration, where interdisciplinary teams or individuals work on shared datasets, LLM-usage practices, models, or frameworks over a defined period either online and in-person, supported by seminars, challenges, and facilitation.

Who can participate and how?

The event is open to all SocSES members interested in engaging at different levels and in different capacities. Individuals may participate as members of the planning committee, as hackathon participants, or as presenters.

• Members of the planning committee will help shape the event’s structure, themes, and activities, ensuring alignment with resilience theory, ethical considerations, and the needs of the broader community. These roles are not mutually exclusive, and individuals may contribute in more than one capacity.
• Hackathon participants include researchers, practitioners, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars interested in learning how to appropriately apply, evaluate, and interpret AI methods in resilience research, regardless of prior technical expertise.
• Presenters may include researchers or research groups who wish to contribute short seminars, case studies, workshops or methodological perspectives on the use of AI in resilience, including successes, limitations, or critical reflections.

What are the expected outcomes?

The primary outcome of the event is improved methodological clarity and responsible use of AI in resilience research. Participants will develop a better understanding of how to select, evaluate, and interpret AI models in contexts characterised by uncertainty, data limitations, and complex system dynamics.

At the community level, the event aims to foster shared norms and language around AI evaluation beyond standard performance metrics, as well as increased awareness of ethical and theoretical considerations specific to social-ecological systems. Tangible outputs may include curated or benchmarked datasets, documented model evaluations, interpretive summaries or model cards, database curation, and the foundations for ongoing collaborations, teaching materials, or future methodological publications. The emphasis is on producing reusable knowledge and frameworks rather than polished software tools.

Interested in joining the hackathon planning committee?

If you are interested in becoming a member of the hackathon’s planning committee, complete the online form here.