Join us for our Social Behavioral Interest Group (SBIG) Colloquium on September 18, 2025!
Speaker: Dr. Gordon Pennycook (Cornell University)
Title: Dialogues with AI demonstrate the persuasive power of facts and evidence
Abstract: It is commonly held that, due to motivated reasoning, people are resistant to evidence that contradicts established beliefs. Recent research has shown, however, that Artificial Intelligence can be leveraged to provide particularly strong counterevidence that is personalized to an individual's unique beliefs - leading, for example, to a 20% reduction in conspiracy beliefs that is durable (without decay) for at least 2 months. Here I will report evidence that AI can produce substantial belief change even if participants are given additional reasons to be motivated to reject the evidence: e.g., The AI can be explicitly labeled as partisan; participants can be told explicitly that it will try to debunk them; participants can be told that they're goal is to convince the AI that it is wrong; etc. The only manipulation that consistently undermines the AI debunking effect is when the AI is told that it cannot use facts and evidence.
The Social Behavior Interest Group consists of members of the university community who are interested in social psychological research. The SBIG supports an active program of visiting speakers. The group meets weekly to hear speakers describe their recent research. Since 1990, SBIG has brought in numerous distinguished visiting speakers. Presentations have included contemporary issues in the study of attitudes, social cognition, prejudice & stereotyping, and also applied research questions in the domains of health and consumer behavior.
