Academic Profile

About Me

Welcome to my academic website. I am a Ph.D. student at UCSD working primarily in Philosophy of Science and Epistemology. Most of my projects can be captured by the catchphrase "formal tools for social phenomena." My research is largely split into two streams, one of which focuses on epistemic communities and their interactions with machine learning (ML) systems, while the other is a more traditional approach to the philosophy of science with a focus on the role of algorithmic tools in scientific theorizing. I primarily use methods from probability theory and agent-based modeling to explore group social dynamics and reasoning under risk. Much of my work is aimed at advocating for modeling and simulation as philosophical methods. Prior to philosophy, I did research in computational geography, using deep neural networks (DNNs) to explore environmental and social impacts on communities.

Research Interests

Philosophy of Science
Formal and Social Epistemology
Agent-Based Modeling and Network Science
Probability and Randomness

Selected Publications

Epistemic Monocultures and the Effect of AI Personalization

O'Brien, Joseph D; Rubin, Hannah; Wong, Kekoa; Fazelpour, Sina (2025)

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, vol. 47

Journal Site

A multi-glimpse deep learning architecture to estimate socioeconomic census metrics in the context of extreme scope variance

Runfola, Dan; Stefanidis, Anthony; Lv, Zhonghui; O'Brien, Joseph; Baier, Heather (2024)

International Journal of Geographical Information Science

Journal Site

Works in Progress

Statistical Practice in the Sciences Draft in Progress

This work explores current statistical practice and its relations to traditional debates in philosophy of science.

Algorithmic Tools and Scientific Communities Draft in Progress

We explore the effects of AI usage on scientific communities through agent-based models

In-Silico Clinical Trials Draft in Progress

A introductory paper on in-silico methods in the biomedical sciecnes, and how philosophers of science ought to think about the development of these tools

Siloing Effects in the Sciences Draft in Progress

Using agent-based modeling, this work explores how academic siloing effects scientific progress in cross-disciplinary research endeavors

Teaching

PHIL 14: Intro to the Nature of Reality - Fall 24 (TA)
PHIL 120: Symbolic Logic - Fall 24 (TA)
PHIL 10: Introduction to Logic - Winter 25 (TA)
PHIL 174: Data Ethics - Spring 25 (TA)
PHIL 28: Ethics in Society II - Summer 25 (TA)

Curriculum Vitae

Download my complete CV for detailed information about my academic background, research experience, publications, and achievements.

Download CV (PDF)

Contact Information

Email: j3obrien[at]ucsd[dot]edu

Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex, Office 0436