Active | Professional website of Sébastien Marcel

DEMO-AI

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Access to factual information is essential for democratic decision-making, public trust, and civic engagement, yet artificial intelligence (AI) enables large-scale creation and dissemination of manipulated content, fabricated narratives, and content amplification that can distort public perception, erode confidence in democratic institutions, and polarize political discourse. These risks threaten to reshape political debates, influence electoral outcomes, and undermine public trust in media sources in Switzerland. Democratic values can be upheld by developing AI tools and governance frameworks to counter disinformation and monitor media framing.

DEMO-AI is an interdisciplinary research project, driving advances in computing to enhance the resilience of democracy, integrating expertise from law, journalism and communication studies, media and information literacy to ensure that AI-supported solutions align with democratic values and regulations. Four project goals include:

AI tools for analyzing news media framing;
AI tools for detecting manipulation of audio-visual media;
legal research on regulatory frameworks for AI and disinformation in Switzerland;
and engaging both the public and professionals in evaluating and testing media tools.

DEMO-AI will produce tools to analyze issue framing and related narratives in Swiss media, facilitate the detection of audio-visual disinformation, and understand legal challenges. These tools will be designed, tested, and refined in collaboration with the general public and professionals, placing their specific needs at the center, thus ensuring real-world applicability. Through societal impact activities, the project extends beyond technology, addressing key challenges across AI, democracy, and policy.

INTERART

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The INTERART project brings together the Geneva’s Museum of art and history (MAH), the University of Oxford, the Idiap Research Institute, as well as the School of criminal justice of the University of Lausanne. Together, these institutions are collaborating to uncover the identities of subjects in the MAH’s historical portrait collection, many of whom remain unknown. Notably, the project investigates suspected portraits of Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France, and Marie-Caroline, Queen of Naples, by Jean-Étienne Liotard.

Heterogeneous face recognition is being used to uncover the identities of the sitters. This technology enables a face recognition system to compare faces in diverse media (coloured image, thermal image, drawing, painting). It opens new paths for interpretation and could enable us to reveal the identities of the individuals portrayed.

The project perfectly aligns with Idiap’s vision, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can serve society by unveiling new insights and enriching the disciplines it engages with. It also underscores the wide-ranging applications of AI and the Institute’s cutting-edge expertise.

Supported by the Loterie Romande, the project includes several phases, with an exhibition at the MAH in autumn 2026 and a publication.

CERTAIN

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

CERTAIN focuses on the ethical and regulatory transparency of AI systems, with the goal of helping organizations assess and improve compliance in a practical and technically grounded way.

The project delivers guidelines and tools to support regulatory compliance, assess data quality, measure bias in datasets, and protect privacy. It aligns closely with broader work on trustworthy biometrics and responsible AI by combining technical evaluation with legal, ethical, and operational considerations.

CARMEN

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

CARMEN develops biometric solutions for non-stop border control for both pedestrians and vehicles in uncontrolled environments.

The project addresses the practical difficulties of “on-the-move” biometrics, including lower-quality live data, lack of time to read ePassports, and real operational constraints outside controlled indoor checkpoints. It aims to make biometric border technologies more accurate, reliable, and deployable in realistic large-scale scenarios.

PopEye

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

PopEye develops robust privacy-preserving biometric technologies for passenger identification and verification at EU external borders.

The project addresses operational constraints such as open-air conditions, night-time acquisition, time pressure, and large-scale throughput, while emphasizing privacy-preserving design. Its goal is to improve the accuracy, reliability, and usability of biometric recognition in demanding border-management scenarios.

PopEye represents a current strand of work where biometric performance, privacy, and deployment realism must all be addressed together.