Forensic linguistics · AI · security

Professor Claire Hardaker

I research how people and AI systems deceive, manipulate, imitate and build trust through language.

I am Professor of Forensic Linguistics at Lancaster University. My work uses corpus and forensic linguistic methods to turn complex communicative behaviour into evidence and intelligence, particularly in online abuse, deception, generative AI and voice security.

Email me Lancaster profile Research outputs

Research

Language when the stakes are high

I work at the intersection of language, technology and security. The common thread is practical: what can linguistic evidence tell us, how confidently can it tell us, and what happens when human judgement meets systems designed to imitate or influence us?

Deception & manipulation

Online aggression, abuse, trolling, disinformation and the ways people construct credibility or conceal intent.

AI-generated communication

How people detect synthetic text, speech and music; the cues they rely on; and where confidence outruns competence.

Voice, identity & security

Voice "biometrics"", cloning, spoofing and responsible ways to use or share sensitive spoken-language data.

Evidence & intelligence

Corpus-led methods for turning large, messy bodies of communication into structured, defensible analysis.

Selected projects

Research made usable

These projects turn questions about AI, evidence and security into experiments, tools and public-facing activities.

Human and AI detection

Bot or Not?

A growing suite of text, speech, music and interactive tests exploring whether humans and AI can reliably identify AI-generated content.

Explore Bot or Not?

Conversation hackathon

HackaCon

A challenge to discover how convincingly AI can synthesise natural, spontaneous-sounding conversation between specific speakers.

Visit HackaCon

Public engagement

Fort Vox

A voice-protected box that invites children and adults to explore voice biometrics, privacy and AI security by trying to break in.

Meet Fort Vox

Funded research

Into the VoiD

Research on public trust in AI-converted voice data and the integrity of AI-generated voice descriptions for cybersecurity.

Read the project background

Research lab

FACTOR

Forensic Linguistics, Cybersecurity and Technology Research brings together language, speech, AI and security research with real-world applications.

FACTOR website Operations Suite

Teaching & supervision

Forensic language in practice

Postgraduate teaching

MSc Forensic Linguistics & Speech Science (FLiSS)

I lead and teach on Lancaster's MSc in Forensic Linguistics and Speech Science, which integrates written and spoken language analysis with AI, investigation, intelligence and security.

Current modules, admissions information and course details are maintained on Lancaster's programme page.

Explore FLiSS

Doctoral enquiries

Currently at full capacity

I am not currently accepting new PhD students. My usual supervision areas are corpus-led forensic linguistics with a clear evidential, investigative or intelligence application.

Find a Lancaster PhD supervisor

Current doctoral researchers

Seven projects across forensic language, speech, deception, extremism, testimony, disinformation, and public-health communication.

  • Haidee Co-supervisor Vaccine hesitancy and disinformation
  • Sam Co-supervisor Defining terrorism
  • Emma Co-supervisor Methods of detecting audiovisual deepfakes
  • Megan Co-supervisor Deception cues in people with ADHD traits versus people without
  • Hope Co-supervisor Detection of audio deepfakes in familiar and unfamiliar voices
  • Greta Primary supervisor A pragmatic and discursive analysis of interpreter-mediated police interviews
  • Jody Primary supervisor Corpus analysis of the testimony of victims of genocide

Publications & funding

Records that stay current

Publication lists, citations and project records change more often than this page should. These maintained sources hold the current details.

Lancaster Research Directory Outputs, projects and activities Google Scholar Publications and citations ORCID Persistent research record UKRI: online misogyny Principal Investigator, ESRC UKRI: vaccination discourse Co-Investigator, ESRC

Selected public work

Research beyond journals

A small selection for journalists, practitioners and anyone who would rather begin with a conversation than a bibliography.

UK Supreme Court · 2026

Why Trust Matters

A panel on public confidence in the rule of law in an age of AI and populism, with Lord Reed, Hannah White and Daniel Cameron.

Event page Watch the panel

The Guardian · 2026

How AI is changing language

Bot or Not?, unreliable AI “tells”, human judgement and what generative systems may be doing to the language we produce.

Read the article

Podcast archive

en clair

Language and crime, codes and ciphers, forgery, lies, disputed texts, literary detection and other forensic linguistic curiosities.

Listen and read

Contact

Research, media & collaboration enquiries

For direct enquiries, email c.hardaker@lancaster.ac.uk. For FACTOR projects, events and group enquiries, email factor@lancaster.ac.uk.

Linguistics and English Language
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Lancaster University · LA1 4YL · UK