AI auto-complete may subtly shape views on social issues

What’s Happening

Real talk: People are increasingly using AI auto-complete features when writing.

Unbeknownst to them, that feature may change how they think. News AI AI auto-complete may subtly shape views on social issues Suggestions from AI chatbots can nudge people’s views — even when users ignore them People are increasingly turning to chatbots for writing help. (let that sink in)

But AI may also change how people think through an issue.

The Details

Creative Images Lab/moment/ By Sujata Gupta 7 hours ago this: via email (Opens in new window) Email on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print Listen to this article This is a human-written story voiced by AI. ) Using AI to auto-complete written communications may be tempting.

But the large language models may also auto-complete thoughts , researchers report March 11 in Science Advances. Few people realize that generative AI chatbots are pushing them to think a certain way, says information scientist Mor Naaman of Cornell University.

Why This Matters

“It’s the subtlest of manipulations. ” Such manipulation may not matter much when letting AI agents such as ChatGPT and Claude auto-complete a banal email. But when people use an AI’s auto-complete function to opine on weightier societal matters, such as whether or not standardized testing should be used in education, the death penalty should be illegal or felons should be allowed to vote — three issues explored in the study — then the model’s bias can have significant societal impact.

This could have implications for future research in this area.

Key Takeaways

• Large swaths of people using the same biased model could sway an entire population’s position on a given policy or politician .
• To flip a single elections outcome, you only need 20,000 people in Pennsylvania, Naaman says.
• For our We summarize the week’s scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

The Bottom Line

For our We summarize the week’s scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. He and his team surveyed over 2,500 participants across two experiments to find out how an AI’s auto-complete feature might influence their thinking on societal issues.

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