Two academic papers by Victor Rangel, a sophomore in the Master of Public Policy (MPP) at Insper, have generated international repercussions. Written in co-authorship with Fabio Motoki from the University of East Anglia (England) and Valdemar Pinho Neto from Fundação Getulio Vargas, both papers disclose research results indicating the political inclination of ChatGPT's responses. The original version can be read at this link.Parallel to academic life, Rangel is dedicated to scientific dissemination on social media.

 

The first paper, published before Rangel started his master's, became a reference for other investigations into the political bias of the OpenAI tool. Quickly catching the press's interest, it generated articles in the Washington Post and Forbes, among various other foreign and national newspapers such as Nexo. In 2025, a second academic paper by the three researchers, also about ChatGPT, was presented in the Brazilian O Estado de S. Paulo and the British The Telegraph, among others.

 

Rangel began engaging with academic research in 2016, still an undergraduate in Economics at Fucape in Espírito Santo. The final project from a paper development workshop resulted in his first publication in an academic journal alongside other authors. It was a curious journey. During high school, he imagined becoming a musician or astrophysicist. However, considering future family income, he took a college entrance exam for Business Administration and ended up choosing Economics after completing the basic cycle. “I chose Economics because I found it intellectually more stimulating,” he recalls. “At the time, I didn't quite understand what an economist did, but I learned the importance of econometrics as I studied and assisted in consulting.”

 

The field of public policy appeared on his radar when Rangel began evaluating possibilities for a master's, still living in Coqueiral de Aracruz, on the coast of Espírito Santo. “I realized I would have to leave Espírito Santo for my master's and started looking for something in Rio and São Paulo,” he says. “Then I saw the MPP curriculum and discovered that, as a researcher, I had already conducted and published research and evaluation in public policy, without knowing that this field of study existed. The MPP seemed perfect for me. I didn't see any other place with a methodological approach like Insper, emphasizing econometrics and qualitative research.”

 

Rangel recalls entering the master's program with a very technical profile, heavily focused on econometrics. “The MPP exposed several gaps in my thinking and training,” he states. “At least in the field of public policy development and evaluation, technique is super important, but politics makes the decisions and is the environment we operate in. The master's opened my mind to new perspectives in how to think and conduct research. The class is interdisciplinary and diverse, with different viewpoints, and it greatly enriched me as a researcher and policy evaluator.”

 

 As a research assistant for the Health Unit at the Center for Public Management & Policy (CGPP) at Insper, Rangel contributes to the data collection and treatment for a study on fetal deaths. This is yet another experience that should help in Rangel's immediate professional plans. “I have two focuses: consolidating my econometrics dissemination project, because I think it has great potential to help economists, students, and researchers and, overall, in Brazil's education, and pursuing a Doctoral Program in Brazil or abroad,” he says.

 

This knowledge dissemination is already a reality on social networks. Rangel produces content on relevant economics topics for the Econometria Fácil profile on Instagram. A few months after a video went viral, reaching 6 million views and thousands of likes, the number of followers grew from 30,000 to the current 128,000. The content includes, among other topics, scientific research dissemination, econometrics lessons, and commentary on current news items, such as the recent tariff issue in the United States. Econometria Fácil is also a channel on YouTube.

 

Regarding the proposal on social networks, Rangel explains: “After I completed my undergraduate studies and while working as a data scientist, I thought of ways to scale up scientific dissemination. Except for a few colleges in Brazil, Economics students graduate without knowing how to solve problems and with little contact with new tools in the profession. So, I followed two converging lines. One is scientific dissemination, and the other is education. I select a published article and show, simply, how economic research is useful and relevant for understanding society. Since then, it has evolved.”

 

If music became a hobby, played in a rock cover band in São Paulo, Econometrics would be a certainty. “I feel happy with what I do because being a scientist and researcher is something that feeds my curiosity and can take me even further,” Rangel says. “I am achieving the dream of studying at excellent institutions. I invested in a research career because I wanted to be well-prepared when my opportunity comes. And I know it will come.”