Lena Benita Funke

PhD

Political Economy/ Comparative Politics

Lena Benita Funke
Image of Lena Benita Funke

Lena B. Funke is a PhD researcher at the University of Melbourne looking at the impact of AI on political behaviour. She previously studied at the University of Hamburg and Queen Mary University of London. In addition, Lena has worked in several research assistant positions at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the University of Hamburg and served as an editorial assistant for the University of Chicago Journal of Politics. Her research interests span the fields of Political Economy and Comparative Politics, with a focus on quantitative methodologies. She has previously worked on research projects studying welfare states, job automation, AI policy, redistributive preferences, climate change communication & female representation.

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Thesis

Automation Winners? AI Vulnerability and Political Alignment of the Higher Skilled

My research investigates how perceived vulnerability to artificial intelligence shapes political behaviour among higher-skilled workers as generative AI begins to also threaten cognitive and creative roles traditionally held by educated professionals. This project examines whether AI-exposed higher-skilled workers shift in their political alignment, with a specific interest in identifying the causal mechanisms driving political (re)alignment.

Research interests

  • AI
  • Political Behaviour
  • Inequity
  • Redistribution

Supervisors