Nicolaus Copernicus University Gets 150,000 Zloty to Study AI's Impact on Hate Speech and Seniors

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (UMK) has established a new research center to study how artificial intelligence affects the daily lives of Poles. The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship regional government provided 150,000 zloty for the initiative, and a letter of intent on the collaboration was signed on September 4, 2026, in Toruń.

The new unit is called the University Interdisciplinary Center for Studies on Technology in Society, ICSTS for short. According to the university, the center will study the multidimensional impact of artificial intelligence and digitization on the spiritual, social and legal dimensions of human life. This approach clearly sets it apart from typical AI research centers, which tend to focus mainly on technological or economic aspects.

Four research directions

The ICSTS team has announced work in four areas. The first is the ethical development of artificial intelligence, considered in the context of humanistic and Catholic values, reflecting the profile of some of the academic staff involved in the project. The second area is protecting human dignity from digital exclusion, a phenomenon that is growing as digital services are rolled out ever faster in administration, banking and healthcare.

The third direction concerns improving quality of life for seniors in an aging society, while the fourth is combating hate speech online. This last topic was also the main reason the regional government got involved in funding the project.

Where the money comes from

The 150,000 zloty in funding comes from the budget of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship regional government. Voivodeship marshal Piotr Całbecki emphasized that the decision to support the research stems from observed broader consequences of online hate speech that extend beyond the internet itself.

We know that the harmful effects of online hate speech also have an impact in other areas - Piotr Całbecki, Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship

On the university's side, the project was commented on by Professor Radosław Sojak, a sociologist and UMK vice-rector, who pointed to the psychological mechanisms behind fear of new technologies. In his view, it is precisely uncertainty about digital transformation that drives some of the negative social reactions the center wants to study.

Uncertainty always causes fear, various kinds of defensive reactions, and sometimes paralyzes our actions - Radosław Sojak, professor at UMK, sociologist and university vice-rector

An interdisciplinary team, not engineers

A distinctive feature of ICSTS is that the core of the research team is made up not of computer scientists or machine learning specialists but of theologians, lawyers and sociologists. This choice of expertise signals that the university is focusing on analyzing the social and ethical consequences of AI rather than developing the technology itself.

This approach fits into a broader strand of public debate, in which questions are increasingly being raised about how artificial intelligence is changing interpersonal relationships, feelings of safety and trust in institutions, not just about the performance or pace of model development.

Significance for the region

The establishment of ICSTS is part of a growing number of academic initiatives in Poland devoted to the social effects of artificial intelligence, a topic that has so far received less attention in public debate than investment or technology issues. For the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region, the regional government's involvement in funding humanities research on AI signals that the topic is now being treated not only as an economic matter but also a social one.

The university has not yet announced a timeline for its first publications or a date by which concrete policy recommendations on protecting seniors or countering online hate speech can be expected.