AI Threatens Trust in Doctors, Especially Among Youth
AI is going to radically reshape who we trust and how we get information. A new report from @EdelmanPR finds that AI is reshaping perceptions of medical expertise, with 64% of consumers believing users fluent with AI can match or outperform doctors in at least one health task. This sentiment is strongest among younger generations, raising questions around trust, accuracy, and the evolving role of medical professionals. · Globally, people are significantly less confident in making health decisions. · Healthcare providers are competing with peers, creators, and artificial intelligence for attention and influence. · Better engagement starts with understanding people’s concerns and helping guide them toward positive health outcomes. In this environment, building trust requires clarity, empathy, and communication that meets people where they are. https://t.co/On0fgZdPvh
Science Consensus Beats Doom Narratives for Climate Action
There are very serious downsides to doomerism. It might be fun to get engagement on social media, but the reward system there does not apply very well to the things that drive real policy change or behavior. We should be...
Wealthy America’s Hidden Crisis: Uncovering the Roots of Sadness
If American is so rich, how’d it get so sad? @DKThomp does a fantastic deep dive on this issue, pulling together evidence from economics, public health, and technology to understand the origins of our collective misery: https://t.co/p83ZLqOhWj How do we begin to pull...
Small Teams Disrupt; Large Teams Focus on Development
Large teams develop and small teams disrupt science and technology This analysis of +65 million papers, patents and software products finds that smaller teams have tended to disrupt science and technology with new ideas and opportunities, whereas larger teams have tended...
Tiny Elite Shapes Misinformation, Distorts Public Perception
A small fraction of online actors now exerts outsized influence over what the public sees, believes, and argues about. In a new short review paper, we trace how social media influencers can turn fringe claims into viral narratives—often by exploiting...
Algorithmic Amplification Distorts Discourse, Demands Multidisciplinary Action
I was at the @UofC Business School this week for a conference on one the central challenges of our time: how AI and social media are reshaping public discourse, political polarization, misinformation, and democratic governance. We discussed how algorithmic amplification can...
Ask “Tell Me More” To Deepen Relationships
70% of people don’t feel loved as much or as often as they’d like, this new book by @slyubomirsky & Harry Reis explains who to build stronger relationships The three words that everyone loves to hear? They’re not “I love...
Selective Attention and Tribalism Skew Evidence Interpretation
Why do two people look at the same evidence and reach completely opposite conclusions? I discussed selective attention, sycophantic AI, political tribalism, and how it impacts leadership on the Culture Changers Podcast with @allison__hare : https://t.co/aB0xn4DZbu
Open‑mindedness Cuts Conspiracy Belief; Threat Increases It
Some people argue that keeping an open-mind makes it easier to believe in conspiracy theories. But we found the exact oppposite in our newest paper. Open-mindedness was the strongest predictor of *rejecting* conspiracy theories in a sample of 46,745 participants around the...
AI Assistance Erodes Persistence, Harms Independent Problem‑solving
The mindless use of A.I. is rotting the brains of too many people. "A.I. assistance reduces persistence and impairs independent performance: After brief A.I.-assisted sessions (10 minutes), participants were significantly more likely to give up on problems and performed significantly worse...
Words Shape Choices: Framing Beats Pure Outcomes
Much of behavioral economics assumes that what matters in a decision is the outcome: who gets what, how much is gained or lost, and with what probability. @ValerioCapraro's new book "The Economics of Language: How Large Language Models Can Reshape Behavioural...
Digital Detox Halves Screen Time, Boosts Well‑Being
The average American spends roughly 4-5 hours on their phone a day A recent study had people take a "Digital Detox" and found that their time online decreased from 314 minutes to 161 minutes, and improved their attention, mental health, and...
AI Autocomplete Subtly Shifts Political Views Unnoticed
When people use AI for writing assistance, it can shift their political attitudes by autocompleting sentences in biased ways. Yet people are often unaware of the AI bias and it's influence on them. And this is not merely about the facts presented,...
Few Accounts Dominate X, Warping Norms Like a Funhouse Mirror
A tiny number of accounts completely dominate this platform. The inequality of attention in X is more extreme than the most unequal countries. That would be fine, but the biggest accounts often spew junk and it distorts how people think about...
Teach Boys Soft Skills to Counter Connection Crisis
Boys are struggling to find connections in today’s society @niobe_way explains the root of the “crisis of connection” and offers advice for how parents and role models can help them foster meaningful friendships and teach them the value of soft...