A new article by Prof. Tuba Bircan and Anna Triandafyllidou has been published in The Conversation, exploring how artificial intelligence and digital data are changing the way migration is studied and governed.
The piece is based on a recently published article and examines how AI increasingly relies on digital data sources, including mobile phone records, satellite imagery, social media activity, and administrative data, to analyse migration patterns.
While these data sources create new opportunities for faster and more detailed analysis, they also influence what aspects of migration become visible and what remains overlooked. The article highlights that AI does not observe migration directly; instead, it learns from existing datasets and the assumptions embedded within them. It argues that digital trace data can provide valuable complementary insights to traditional migration statistics, but cannot replace information about migrants’ experiences, motivations, and decision-making processes. Responsible use of AI in migration research and policymaking requires critical engagement with data sources and combining multiple types of evidence rather than relying on a single dataset.
The full article "How AI and digital data shape our understanding of migration" published in The Conversation is available here.
The article "Migrant by Proxy: How Big Data Defines and Redefines Human Mobility" by Tuba Bircan, Alina Sîrbu, Haodong Qi, Carlos Arcila Calderón and Albert Ali Salah published in Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies is available here.
