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  On 2 April 2025, Orsolya Ring delivered a lecture at the Central European University (CEU) as part of the Borderless Knowledge: What Can AI Offer to Science? (“Határtalan tudás: Mit adhat az AI a tudománynak?”) event. In her presentation, she explored how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming academic research, with a particular focus on its role in big data-driven studies — especially in processing the textual data widely used in the Social Sciences. Drawing on illustrative examples, she demonstrated how large language models can support the automated analysis of news media and help identify underlying patterns within it. She underscored that AI not only enhances the efficiency of scholarly work but also introduces new perspectives to empirical research. Further details of the event can be found here.  

PoltextLAB is a host institution in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ (MTA) newly launched Momentum-MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme (Momentum PPDF), through which we welcome applications for our V-SHIFT project. Co-funded by the European Commission and the Secretariat of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), with the support of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the programme supports 35 exceptional postdoctoral researchers, offering them the opportunity to work within Hungarian Momentum (Lendület) research groups. This initiative fosters career development in dynamic research environments while enhancing the international visibility of Momentum projects. Additionally, it strengthens Hungary’s R&D and innovation ecosystem and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration across disciplines and sectors. Our research team offers postdoctoral researchers joining the programme the opportunity to use state-of-the-art AI-based methods to investigate the emergence of global powers on the domestic policy agenda of the V4 countries and to analyse attitudes and changes in attitudes towards them. The fellowship lasts up to 36 months. The first round of applications opens on 2 April 2025. Our research team will host postdoctoral researchers until August 2028. For more details on the fellowship programme, please visit: https://momentummsca.mta.hu/

Miklós Sebők gave a presentation on Artificial Intelligence in University Education and Scientific Research. He focused on the applications of generative AI in education and research, particularly in plagiarism detection, classification tasks, and the modernization of student reporting and assessment.

A new study by Rebeka Kiss and Miklós Sebők, titled “The concept of tailor-made laws and legislative backsliding in Central–Eastern Europe,” has been published in Comparative European Politics. The research examines ‘tailor-made laws’—legislation that codifies individual cases under the guise of general rules—and their role in legislative backsliding within Central–Eastern Europe. The authors argue that these laws, which directly or indirectly affect specific individuals or institutions, serve as empirical markers of the shift from liberal to illiberal democracies. Through case studies, they demonstrate how such laws are used to implement discretionary reward and punishment policies, potentially undermining the broader public interest. The full study is available here. Kiss, R., Sebők, M. (2025). The concept of tailor-made laws and legislative backsliding in Central–Eastern Europe. Comparative European Politics.

Miklós Sebők gave a presentation on making computational methods more accessible to a broader community at the Computational Communication Science Lab of the University of Vienna. In his talk, titled “Leveraging Large Language Models and Generative AI for Social Research: The Babel Machine Approach,” he introduced The Babel Machine toolkit and discussed the development of AI-supported research, as well as the unification of an otherwise fragmented research field in the social sciences. The presentation covered the application of generative AI in political and social science research, along with the effective use of advanced data analysis methods.  

Presentation by Miklós Sebők, director of poltextLAB, at the Portfolio Signature PRO investors’ club event titled “The Limits of Global AI Governance and Hungary’s Position in the Intensifying AI Race.” In his presentation, he discussed the AI competition between China and the USA, particularly developments in the field of language models, and their impact on Hungary. He highlighted the international challenges of AI governance and the shortcomings of regulatory frameworks that influence technological development and the competitiveness of nations. The event concluded with a panel discussion, where industry experts debated current investment strategies and the economic impacts of AI technology.

On February 27, 2025, poltextLAB organized a full-day Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) training for researchers of HUN-REN. The professional program, led by Miklós Sebők and Rebeka Kiss, aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the application of generative artificial intelligence in scientific research, with a particular focus on methodological foundations, ethical considerations, and the integration of GenAI into specific research processes. More than 40 researchers from various HUN-REN research centers and institutes registered for the course. Participants came from institutions such as the Centre for Energy Research, the Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, the Biological Research Centre in Szeged, and the Centre for Social Sciences. Additionally, representatives from various other research institutes were also present, including the Institute for Nuclear Research, the Balaton Limnological Research Institute, the Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science, and the Institute of Experimental Medicine. Due to high demand, all available spots were filled within just a few hours. The full-day training was structured into three main blocks: The first part introduced participants to the fundamentals of generative artificial intelligence, including the functioning and limitations of large language models. The second block focused on the practice of prompt engineering, the selection of appropriate models, and cost comparisons. The final section centered on research applications, covering topic selection, literature analysis, and data analysis, while also addressing ethical and legal aspects such as data protection, intellectual property rights, and proper citation methods. The full training curriculum is available HERE.The photos of the training can be found HERE.

The Hungarian daily newspaper, Népszava interviewed Miklós Sebők, director of poltextLAB, on the global regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). The discussion covered the European Union’s AI Act, the differing approaches of the US and China, as well as the military and energy-related applications of AI. According to Miklós Sebők, regulating AI presents significant global challenges: “The situation is similar to the military use of nuclear energy after World War II.” While the European Union prioritizes ethical and data protection considerations, the United States and China focus more on innovation and economic growth. The full interview is available HERE.

The following interns have joined poltextLAB for the 2024-25 spring semester, participated in the introductory training session led by researcher Anna Takács, and have officially started their work:

On February 27-28, 2025, the workshop “Natural Language Processing with Large Language Models. From Bag of Words to Agents” was held at the University of Hildesheim. The event focused on the latest developments in large language models and natural language processing, providing participants with insights into cutting-edge NLP technologies, including transformers and AI-driven agents. During the workshop, poltextLAB’s AI models were also presented, showcasing innovative solutions for analyzing political and social science texts. The event featured interactive lectures and hands-on exercises, allowing participants to gain firsthand experience in AI-driven text analysis. Workshop materials, including presentations and exercises, are available at the following GitHub repository: https://github.com/TimBMK/LLM-workshop-HI.