Guido Tabellini

Bocconi University is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for a project that uses artificial intelligence to turn narratives into testable causal models. Funded by the Tech Europe Foundation and conducted in collaboration with the AI in Social Sciences (AISS) lab, the project sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, causal inference, natural language processing, and computational social science . The research will develop an applied-AI system that reads narratives about cause and effect and extracts the causal model they propose. The system will identify the action, mechanism, expected outcome, evidence, and missing assumption that should be tested next. The work addresses how people use stories to justify decisions in politics, strategy, and entrepreneurship. Initial applications include comparing how politicians and experts argue about the same issue, examining how successful policy narratives originate and spread, and helping founders test assumptions about their businesses. The postdoctoral researcher will work with Guido Tabellini and Alfonso Gambardella and contribute to the activities of the AISS lab. The position offers a research environment combining technical AI development with substantive engagement in the social sciences, particularly political decision-making, policy analysis, strategy, and entrepreneurship.