Christoph Abels

@cabels18.bsky.social

Post-Doctoral Fellow @unipotsdam.bsky.social‬, visiting @arc-mpib.bsky.social | PhD @hertieschool.bsky.social | Democracy, Technology, Behavioral Public Policy | Website: https://christophabels.com

My new @science.org editorial on the role of scientists in defending democracy is out today. As authoritarianism takes hold in the US, we must fight for the democratic principles that enable a free society and scientists have a key role. I hope you'll join us. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Scientists’ role in defending democracy

The United States’ democratic leadership, commitment to freedom of expression, and investment in the pursuit of knowledge have long enabled its preeminence in science and technology. Yet today we are ...

science.org

🔍 “I just want a second opinion.” More people are turning to ChatGPT for health advice. Many would use it for self-diagnosis. But here's the problem: These tools don’t just answer, they align. And that’s where things get risky. 🧵 on GenAI, health, and confirmation bias

Ezequiel Lopez-Lopez@eloplop.bsky.social · last yr.

New research out!🚨 In our new paper, we discuss how generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT can mediate confirmation bias in health information seeking. As people turn to these tools for health-related queries, new risks emerge. 🧵👇 nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New research out!🚨 In our new paper, we discuss how generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT can mediate confirmation bias in health information seeking. As people turn to these tools for health-related queries, new risks emerge. 🧵👇 nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

NYAS Publications

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications, such as ChatGPT, are transforming how individuals access health information, offering conversational and highly personalized interactions. Whi...

nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Nudging has shaped behavioral policy for years—but what are its downsides? In our latest episode, 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐩𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐠 makes the case for shifting from nudging to 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠—an alternative behavioral science approach that fosters people’s agency, self-control, and decision-making skills. tinyurl.com/3yvfwxc8

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Honest people don’t lie. Or do they? Liars aren’t honest. Or are they? One puzzling conundrum in contemporary politics is that politicians who seem to be estranged from facts and evidence are nonetheless considered honest by their followers. 1/n

I had the pleasure of writing for the BPP Blog, exploring how behavioral science can step up where social media fails to tackle misinformation. Key takeaway: As platforms step back from accountability, a vigilant and resilient public is the strongest shield against misinformation.

Behavioural Public Policy@bppjournal.bsky.social · last yr.

Corporate needs you to handle misinformation yourself – behavioural science can help Misinformation thrives in an environment where platform providers shape the rules yet evade responsibility. As companies like Meta and X dismantle fact-checking and relax content moderation, users are left to…

Science is under a wide-ranging attack in the U.S. From arbitrary and catastrophic funding cuts to censorship based on keywords, scholarship is no longer free from government interference. How can scientists respond? 1/n

Bust of Andrey Sakharov

As the Trump administration and Elon Musk work to dismantle USAID, the government’s lead agency for delivering humanitarian aid for generations, right-wing influencers have flooded the internet with falsehoods about its work, promoting unfounded claims and conspiratorial thinking. nyti.ms/4htWHN0

A chart shows the increasing views that a viral, false claim about USAID saw on X, as it was amplified by right-wing influencers. A headline reads: Falsehoods Fuel the Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID. A sentence reads: Nearly 15,000 posts on X over two days mentioned USAID and Politico, with many users falsely claiming that the humanitarian organization paid the news website millions of dollars. Note: Data includes posts on X between Feb. 5 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time and Feb. 6 at 10 p.m. that mention both “Politico” and “USAID.” Source: Tweet Binder by Audiense.

How do autocrats stay in power? Our new research dives into the strategies of political control—repression, co-optation, and indoctrination—used across 229 autocracies from 1946 to 2010. What we found will change the way you think about authoritarian resilience. 🧵👇

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On this Jan. 6, it’s a fitting moment to reflect on the threats to democracy posed by norm violations from political elites - and by a public that either supports or turns a blind eye to them. @lewan.bsky.social, @kiiahuttunen.bsky.social, Ralph Hertwig, and I discuss this in a recent publication.

Dodging the autocratic bullet: enlisting behavioural science to arrest democratic backsliding | Behavioural Public Policy | Cambridge Core

Dodging the autocratic bullet: enlisting behavioural science to arrest democratic backsliding

cambridge.org