Can AI talk us out of conspiracy theories? (with Cornell University's David Rand) | Pioneers of AI
About David
- Professor of Information Science, Marketing & Mgmt Communications at Cornell
- Pioneered AI chatbot dialogues that cut conspiracy belief ~20% in studies
- Effects held steady 10 days and ~2 months after intervention
- Co-created DebunkBot; drew 100k+ organic visitors by 2025
- Leading researcher in misinformation, polarization, and human cooperation
| 30:12
From deepfakes to fabricated news, AI has been shown to generate convincing deceptive images and videos, increasing the spread of misinformation. David Rand, a professor of Information Science and marketing at Cornell University, is using the same technology for a different purpose: debunking those very same conspiracy theories. In a recent and groundbreaking study, Rand and his team asked participants who believed in conspiracies to talk with an AI chatbot specifically designed to reduce those beliefs. The results were surprising. Rand joins Pioneers of AI to discuss what makes conspiracy theories so alluring, how AI can be a powerful tool for debunking them through fact-based conversations, and what this could mean for combating other forms of misinformation.
