| |
| author |
Grace Rinehart
| | title |
Is AI "Taking Over" Our Responses to (Mis)Information? How Artificial Intelligence and Group Membership Shape Perceptions of Political Messaging
| | abstract |
This study investigated whether the use of artificial intelligence impacted people's
responses to political messaging, and whether this effect was moderated by group membership.
Specifically, I hypothesized that people would view messages from human sources more
positively than messages from artificial intelligence sources, would view messages from their
ingroup more positively than messages from their outgroup, and that the effects of group
membership would be more powerful than the effects of artificial intelligence. Participants (n =
244) viewed an infographic about food insecurity that was labeled as created by either AI or
human authors and as sponsored by either a Democratic or Republican politician. Participants
then reported their perceptions of the infographic (including their belief in the message, trust in
the source, and the perceived morality of the message), their attitude about food insecurity, and
demographics. Analyses indicated that whether artificial intelligence or humans authored the
infographic had the most impact on participants' perceptions of the infographic; they had more
positive attitudes toward the infographic when it was created by humans than when it was
created by artificial intelligence. Contrary to the hypothesis, group membership did not have
significant impacts on perception. This research signals a need to further examine how AI and
group membership individually and collectively affect individuals' responses to information,
especially with the continual advancement of AI.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2024)
|
| advisor |
Scott Morgan
|
| full text | GRinehart.pdf |
| |
