Work with us
Common Signals builds a shared, neutral evidence base for anyone explaining AI to the public.
We're at an early stage, with published reception studies, an open methodology, a public data explorer and a map of trusted messengers.
If you recognise yourself in one of these sections, we'd like to hear from you.
Fund the work
So far our research has used data that already exists: public comments on videos, podcasts and posts about AI risk. That work has produced useful hypotheses, but it can only tell us about people who chose to comment.
The next step is research we own. We're preparing a UK survey, followed by the US, that tests messages with samples recruited by values rather than demographics. Funding covers fieldwork and open publication of the data.
Everything we produce is published openly under a Creative Commons licence. A grant to Common Signals becomes a resource for every organisation communicating about AI. We'd rather talk to you while the research design is still open than after it's fixed. Our funder brief is available on request.
Collaborate on research
Public attitudes to AI, message testing, audience segmentation, content analysis of AI media: if your question overlaps with ours, we would rather work on it together than in parallel. Our coded datasets are in the data explorer under CC BY 4.0.
We also need methodology review. Our methodology page sets out how we sample comments, code them and turn patterns into hypotheses. We'd like a small group of reviewers with survey or content analysis experience to read our drafts before publication.
Shape how findings are used
We're looking for communicators to help with two things.
The first is editorial: shaping findings into formats practitioners actually use, such as briefings, message guides and before-and-after examples. This could mean reviewing drafts or writing with us.
The second is assessment criteria. We want to agree shared criteria with practitioners: did the message change understanding, did it build or erode trust, did it backfire with a particular segment. If you've had to judge your own campaigns and found the metrics wanting, we'd value your input.
Help us track messages over time
Brand trackers measure how awareness and perception of a brand shift month by month across a defined audience. Nobody does this for public understanding of AI.
We want to track which messages and frames people have encountered, which they remember and how their views move over time, broken down by values segment. We're looking for a survey, panel or tracking platform willing to partner on this, in kind or at cost. In return the tracker would be public, cited and built on a methodology open to scrutiny.
Make content about AI
If you make videos, podcasts or posts about AI, your audience's reactions are some of the best evidence available. We can run a reception study on one of your pieces and share the findings with you first, help you test variations of a message with different audiences, and list you on the messenger map so organisations can find trusted voices outside their usual circles. We only publish analysis of your content with your agreement.
Bring us into a cohort
If you run a fellowship, incubator, accelerator or creator platform for people communicating about AI, we can bring the research into your programme through workshops and training built on our findings. We're also interested in working with cohorts as a test bed: participants try messages based on our hypotheses, we measure what happens, and everyone gets the results. Experienced researchers and communicators can also mentor a project.
Join the team
If our current funding applications succeed, we plan to hire a research analyst and paid editorial support. We'll post roles here first. If either sounds like you, send a short note now and we'll get in touch when they open.
Get in touch
For anything else, email [email protected].