Location
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
7-1-2025 12:00 AM
End Date
10-1-2025 12:00 AM
Description
The combination of the partisan ideological divide on controversial societal issues and algorithmic social media curation has led to echo chambers where individuals predominantly engage in political discussions aligned with their own viewpoints. Concerns about potential conflict and judgment in discussions with those holding opposing viewpoints make people apprehensive about reaching out across the political divide, further exacerbating misunderstanding and widening the divide. Our research examines whether artificial intelligence (AI) could help bridge the ideological divide by providing the means to discuss politically charged issues without concerns about emotional conflicts and the judgment associated with human interactions. Our online experiment demonstrates that when interacting with AI (versus reading an article), individuals who have apprehensions about engaging in discussions with someone with opposing viewpoints experience significantly higher satisfaction, willingness to participate, perceived learning, and a willingness to learn more about opposing perspectives and become more tolerant towards opposite viewpoints. These findings suggest that conversations with AI chatbots may help mitigate the ideological divide, particularly for those uneasy about conversing with people holding opposing views. When participants were able to freely ask questions and converse with an AI on topics that they would feel uncomfortable discussing with a person, their attitude towards the opposing side became more positive. Overall, our study underscores the potential for AI-mediated discussions to foster greater understanding and reduce ideological divides.
Recommended Citation
Kim, Antino; Dennis, Alan; and Smith, Evelyn, "Conversational Agents Powered by Generative Artificial Intelligence Improve Understanding for Those Worried About Controversial Topics" (2025). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 (HICSS-58). 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/dsm/ai_generated_content/6
Conversational Agents Powered by Generative Artificial Intelligence Improve Understanding for Those Worried About Controversial Topics
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
The combination of the partisan ideological divide on controversial societal issues and algorithmic social media curation has led to echo chambers where individuals predominantly engage in political discussions aligned with their own viewpoints. Concerns about potential conflict and judgment in discussions with those holding opposing viewpoints make people apprehensive about reaching out across the political divide, further exacerbating misunderstanding and widening the divide. Our research examines whether artificial intelligence (AI) could help bridge the ideological divide by providing the means to discuss politically charged issues without concerns about emotional conflicts and the judgment associated with human interactions. Our online experiment demonstrates that when interacting with AI (versus reading an article), individuals who have apprehensions about engaging in discussions with someone with opposing viewpoints experience significantly higher satisfaction, willingness to participate, perceived learning, and a willingness to learn more about opposing perspectives and become more tolerant towards opposite viewpoints. These findings suggest that conversations with AI chatbots may help mitigate the ideological divide, particularly for those uneasy about conversing with people holding opposing views. When participants were able to freely ask questions and converse with an AI on topics that they would feel uncomfortable discussing with a person, their attitude towards the opposing side became more positive. Overall, our study underscores the potential for AI-mediated discussions to foster greater understanding and reduce ideological divides.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/dsm/ai_generated_content/6