Lahja Vier­imaa

Research and societal impact 
My work focuses on how new technologies, such as open-source language models can strengthen democratic participation and foster inclusive civic discourse. By combining political science and AI, I explore how these tools can lower participation barriers, support diverse communication styles, and mitigate polarisation in multilingual societies. 

How my research helps 

- Enables underrepresented citizens to engage in decision-making 

- Supports civic tech platforms and public sector actors  

- Provides multilingual datasets and frameworks to evaluate AI’s societal impact 

My ambition is to develop technologies that modernise existing democracies for the 21st century, while empowering societies and improving citizens’ well-being.