Francesco Sovrano
Early-Career Fellow 2024–2025

Francesco Sovrano (born in 1991 in Veneto, Italy) is a data scientist specializing in artificial intelligence (AI). His research spans explainable AI (XAI), law, natural language processing (NLP), and human-computer interaction (HCI). He focuses on the theory of explanations and its applications in AI to enhance learning and information acquisition. He is currently trying to decipher how generative AI like ChatGPT produces educational explanations about different concepts by integrating empirical methods and philosophical theories with XAI technology.

Francesco received his PhD in 2023 from the University of Bologna (IT), presenting a new computational theory of explanations influenced by ordinary language philosophy and novel explanatory AI technology. His research included case studies on European legal frameworks and education, highlighting the theory's practical utility in improving learning efficiency for both AI agents and humans.

Before joining the Collegium Helveticum, Francesco was a senior researcher at the University of Zurich in the Zurich Empirical Software Engineering Group from 2023 until 2024, where he continued to advance his research in AI and software explanations.