Twitter's Algorithm Rewards Trash, Drowns Out Evidence
"The content that gets “engagement” on Twitter is mostly complete crap" Most social media sucks these days, but Twitter/X has taken the worst downturn. The reason is simple: The incentive structure and algorithm have been designed to amplify incendiary nonsense and throttle content with links to evidence.
Smartphones Correlate With Declining Deep Thinking Skills
“Have humans passed peak brain power?” We’re rapidly losing the ability to think deeply. This fantastic article explains how technology, from smartphones, social media to artificial intelligence is making us dumber. "Long-running surveys reveal that the share of U.S. adults who struggle...
Redirect AI Incentives Before the Arms Race Escalates
There is no good vs. bad AI. The promise and peril are inextricably linked and it is the underlying incentive structures that we have to understand and guide. These incentives are currently steering us in the wrong direction, creating a...
AI Sycophancy Fuels Extreme Beliefs – Join Free Talk
I'll be speaking about how AI sycophancy can drive extreme beliefs as part of a free e-conference on the science of science communication on May 3rd, 2026 Learn more and RSVP here: https://t.co/xBdbHO9AfC https://t.co/FqNp3BsVsu
AI Tends to Deliver Moderate Content, Unlike Extreme Social Media
While social media shows you extreme content, AI is more likely to show people more moderate content This means the technology, on average, could have very different effects on polarization. https://t.co/2MrrG5To8R https://t.co/7xE2wOX8t5
X Algorithm Favors Conservatives, Suppresses Traditional Media Posts
X’s feed algorithm “promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media.” See this thread for details:
Exclusive NYU Pre‑Release Screening of The AI Doc
We will be hosting an exclusive pre-release screening of the "THE AI DOC: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" The event is New York University on Tuesday, March 24 at 6:30pm followed by a panel discussion The details are in the post...
AI Threatens Traditional Academic Training Model
I've been seeing this more and more, labs are shrinking due to massive funding cuts and scientists are leaning more and more on AI. There used to be a lot of debate about whether or not academia was a pyramid scheme,...
Algorithms Erode Trust by Amplifying Extremist Voices
People have really lost trust in their social media feed--algorithms have amplified the worst voices. https://t.co/HRA9NLRY8E
Stagnant Trust Fuels Workplace Conflict; Shared Culture Needed
Trust has stagnated in developed countries: People have lost trust in institutions and are becoming more insular. This is linked to increased conflict at work and lost productivity. The most popular solution is to facilate trust by having leaders and employers...
AI‑Created Art Boosts Confidence in Personal Creativity
Exposing people to creative content believed to have been created by gen-AI (vs. a human peer) increases people’s self-confidence in their own relevant creative abilities. This effect emerges for jokes, stories, poetry, and visual art, even when it's unwarranted. https://t.co/WmoSaAKJSX
Rank‑and‑Yank Rewards Individuals, Undermines Team Success
Although leaders are concerned with collective success, most organizations — from sports teams to universities to global companies — still focus on rewarding individual performance. General Electric CEO Jack Welch concocted the legendary “Rank and Yank” system to motivate employeers....
Human Texts Beat Chatbots in Easing Loneliness
Texting daily with a random human peer is more effective at reducing loneliness than texting with a highly supportive chatbot. Next time you feel lonely reach out to a human, any human. https://t.co/yIAWQlyDvG https://t.co/X3dXEktUk5
Make AI Intentional to Close Human Cooperation Gap
Why do social norms work differently when we interact with AI? In a new paper (N = 1,108), we found that people are less sensitive to prosocial norms when interacting with AI because they are less accurate at predicting AI behavior. Framing AI...
LLMs Skew Toward Western Morals, Ignoring Global Values
LLMs overemphasize moral concerns common in Western societies and underestimate values more prominent elsewhere. These distortions likely stem from cultural biases in training data and carry societal implications and risks https://t.co/0nacfBcoA7 https://t.co/FHZCLnu1Kn
LLMs Reveal Doubling of National Identity Language, Republican Bias
National identity drives a range of action, from civic engagement to intergroup violence. Our newest paper presents a novel approach using large language models (LLMs) to code texts for expressions of positive (national identification, patriotism) and defensive (nationalism, national narcissism)...
100 Users Generate 70% of Canadian Conspiracy Posts
Just 100 users were responsible for almost 70% of online conspiracy posts from influential accounts they examined in Canada. An analysis of over 14 million social media posts from accounts in Canada found that 87% of conspiratorial claims come from these...