PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Carlos Castillo

Also known as ChaTo Castillo

Carlos Castillo, known professionally as ChaTo, researches web mining, crisis response, and algorithmic fairness. They earned a computer-science doctorate at the University of Chile and worked on spam detection at Yahoo! Research. At Qatar Computing Research Institute, they coauthored AIDR, a machine-learning platform for crisis messages, and later wrote Big Crisis Data. They are an ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where they lead the Social and Responsible Computing Research Group; from November 2022 to October 2025, they collaborated on FINDHR's work on non-discrimination in algorithmic hiring.

Works
443
Citations
21,627
h-index
68
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1990s

    The ChaTo name

    Castillo uses ChaTo professionally, a name they use on IRC in the mid-1990s.

  2. 1994–2004

    A computer-science doctorate

    In 1994, they begin Computer Engineering at the University of Chile. They complete a computer-science doctorate there in 2004.

  3. 2005–2012

    Web mining at Yahoo

    After visiting Universitat Pompeu Fabra in 2005 and Sapienza University of Rome in 2006, Castillo joins Yahoo! Research in Barcelona as a postdoctoral researcher. They work on detecting spam pages during their Yahoo! Research years, 2006–2012.

  4. 2012–2015

    Disaster response at QCRI

    At Qatar Computing Research Institute, Castillo moves from senior scientist to principal scientist between 2012 and 2015. In 2014, they coauthor AIDR, a machine-learning platform that classifies crisis-related microblog messages with human input.

  5. 2016–2017

    Crisis data and Eurecat

    In 2016, they publish Big Crisis Data: Social Media in Disaster, a book about social media during natural disasters. From 2016 to 2017, Castillo directs data-science research at Eurecat.

  6. 2021

    A professorship and Twitter award

    In 2021, Castillo is a Distinguished Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and leads its Web Science and Social Computing group. Also in 2021, The Web Conference gives Castillo, Marcelo Mendoza, and Barbara Poblete the Seoul Test of Time Award for “Information Credibility on Twitter.”

  7. November 2022–October 2025

    Studying fair hiring algorithms

    From November 2022 to October 2025, Castillo collaborates on FINDHR, a Horizon Europe project focused on fairness and non-discrimination in algorithmic hiring.

  8. As of October 2026

    An ICREA research professorship

    Castillo is an ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and leads the Social and Responsible Computing Research Group.

Career

  1. Since 2005Universitat Pompeu FabraDistinguished Research Professor
  2. 2022–2026Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
  3. 2016–2017EurecatDirector of data-science research
  4. 2012–2015Qatar Computing Research InstituteSenior Scientist, Principal Scientist
  5. 2006Sapienza University of Rome
  6. 2006–2012YahooPostdoctoral researcher
  7. 1993–2005Instituto Politécnico Nacional

Education

  1. 2004University of ChileComputer-science doctorate
  2. From 1994University of ChileComputer Engineering

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Information credibility on twitter2011 · International World Wide Web Conference (WWW) · 2,570 citations
  2. Twitter under crisis2010 · 953 citations
  3. Processing Social Media Messages in Mass Emergency2015 · ACM Computing Surveys · 797 citations
  4. Social Data: Biases, Methodological Pitfalls, and Ethical Boundaries2019 · Frontiers in Big Data · 760 citations
  5. FA*IR2017 · 496 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes Universitat Pompeu Fabra. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Sapienza University of Rome. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Carlos Castillo yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Conversación con Carlos ‘Chato’ Castillo manuelbruscas.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Vitae – Carlos Castillo (ChaTo) chato.cl. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. AIDR: Artificial Intelligence for Disaster Response qcai.qcri.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. BIAS@ECIR2021 - Second International Workshop on Algorithmic Bias in Search and Recommendation biasinrecsys.github.io. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Barbara Poblete: Social Data & AI Research barbara.cl. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. Castillo Ocaranza, Carlos – ICREA Memoir 2022 memoir.icrea.cat. Checked 18 October 2026.
  7. Enlace | ChaTo (Carlos Castillo) chato.cl. Checked 18 October 2026.
  8. Carlos Castillo (ChaTo) – ICREA Researcher Professor at UPF chato.cl. Checked 18 October 2026.