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 you.” They’re not “you’ve lost weight” and not “you were right.” Those three words are “tell me more.” Such questions, when they’re authentic, signal that you’re right there with them. https://t.co/K0qlveqzb3
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...
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...
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...