Communications of the ACM
Writing With an Opinionated AI Language Model Can Shift Users' Views
The study shows that writing with an AI-powered tool can sway a person's opinions.
Credit: Caitlin Cook / Cornell University
Artificial intelligence-powered writing assistants impact not only what users write, but also what they think, according to research presented at the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Maurice Jakesch, an information science Ph.D. researcher, asked more than 1,500 participants to write a paragraph answering the question, "Is social media good for society?" People who used an opinionated AI writing assistant were twice as likely to write a paragraph agreeing with the assistant, and significantly more likely to say they held the same opinion, compared with people who wrote without AI's help.
The survey revealed that a majority of the participants did not notice the AI was positively or negatively biased and didn't realize they were being influenced.
"We're rushing to implement these AI models in all walks of life, but we need to better understand the implications," says co-author Mor Naaman, professor of information science at Cornell Tech. "Apart from increasing efficiency and creativity, there could be other consequences for individuals and also for our society — shifts in language and opinions."
From Cornell University
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