Check out "The persuasive potential of AI-paraphrased information at scale," an open-access article exploring "AIPasta," written by a team of @cip.uw.edu researchers led by @dashsaloni.bsky.social with co-authors @yiweixu.bsky.social, @maddyjalbert.bsky.social and @emmaspiro.bsky.social ⤵️

PNAS Nexus@pnasnexus.org · last yr.

Repeating duplicated messages—known as CopyPasta—over and over online is a common misinformation strategy. Using AI to paraphrase the message, what the authors call “AIPasta,” could be even more effective at creating a false consensus. In PNAS Nexus: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Excited to announce that my paper "The persuasive potential of AI-paraphrased information at scale" with my wonderful collaborators @yiweixu.bsky.social, @maddyjalbert.bsky.social, and @emmaspiro.bsky.social has been published at PNAS Nexus! Link: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

The persuasive potential of AI-paraphrased information at scale

Abstract. In this article, we study how AI-paraphrased messages have the potential to amplify the persuasive impact and scale of information campaigns. Bui

academic.oup.com

Hi friends, the Spark Society's NSF funding has been terminated. We are dedicated to continuing our work and hope we can rely on you for support.

The Spark Society @sparksociety.bsky.social · last yr.

If you want to help support our mission, you can donate here buy.stripe.com/3cs03h1be38D...

I got an email yesterday afternoon that my NSF SPRF Postdoctoral Fellowship was terminated. My grant focused on testing interventions to address online misinformation and I was 8 months into a two year appointment.

Mike Wagner@prowag.bsky.social · last yr.

Friday Night Massacre of accurate information. A devastating day for the USA as tens of millions of dollars of grants seeking to combat the spread of false information were terminated. We have a federal govenrment that does not consider the verifiable truth a priority. www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...

NEW: We obtained the directions NSF program officers are following to review all grants for compliance with the Trump EOs and the turmoil it has created in an agency mandated to broaden STEM participation. Our story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s orders

The US National Science Foundation has unfrozen grant funding, but it continues to scrutinize research projects, sowing turmoil.

nature.com

NSF froze payments to researchers. State AGs said it was unconstitutional for exec branch to pause congressionally mandated funds. Judge issued restraining order. Payments resumed. But some inconsistencies in what the NSF has said (thread): www.statnews.com/2025/02/02/n...

National Science Foundation restores payments after five-day pause, but worries over science funding persist

The NSF said on Sunday that its payment system was back on line, after it froze out researchers and sparked financial worries.

statnews.com

I am one of these NSF postdocs. NSF has frozen everyone’s access to their salaries and research stipends (that were already awarded) with no information about when they might be expected to be unfrozen. It still appears like we are expected to continue doing our work though.

Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · 2y ago

Apparently all the PhD researchers holding prestigious NSF-funded research fellowships are having their salaries withheld until some unspecified time when the leadership figures out how to eliminate any grant funding that doesn’t align with the president’s political ideology.

Apparently all the PhD researchers holding prestigious NSF-funded research fellowships are having their salaries withheld until some unspecified time when the leadership figures out how to eliminate any grant funding that doesn’t align with the president’s political ideology.

Ben Stone@benstemon.bsky.social · 2y ago

It’s official: all funding requests made on Tuesday by postdocs for their salaries have been unilaterally rejected by NSF.

Join us in congratulating HCDE Professor Kate Starbird on receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This prestigious honor recognizes her groundbreaking research on the dynamics of misinformation and disinformation online.

HCDE Professor Kate Starbird awarded Presidential Early Career Award

HCDE Professor Kate Starbird is among a distinguished group of scientists and engineers across the country honored with a 2025 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) fro...

hcde.washington.edu

Excited this piece with @malar0ne.bsky.social and Luke Williams is now out! In this work, we find that the presence of biomedical credentials (e.g. Dr., MD., scientist, nurse) in a user's social media profile increases perceptions that the user has expertise on the topic of COVID-19 vaccination.

Information, Communication & Society@icsjournal.bsky.social · 2y ago

#OutNow in #iCS Madeline Jalbert, Mallory Harris, and Luke Williams examine how biomedical credentials in social media profiles influence perceptions of expertise on COVID-19 vaccination. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A Just Asking Questions Effect for spreading false information. This thread is an overview of my lab’s research that I presented at Psychonomics this morning. #psynow24 TLDR: Getting people to generate their own false answers leads them to believe that info. 1/

Just published a Nature comment highlighting a few of the rumors our UW team expects to see going into the Nov 5 election — from rumors that falsely frame election errors as impactful and intentional to rumors about "non citizen voters" and "suspicious behaviors". www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I’ve been studying misinformation for a decade — here are the rumours to watch out for on US election day

We can anticipate many false claims, including alleged mass voting by non-citizens or ‘suspicious vans’ outside polling booths. We should quickly counter them.

nature.com

In a new article now out in Collabora: Psychology, @rmpillai.bsky.social and I find that the mere repetition of information increases estimates of its consensus, a finding we refer to as an “illusory consensus effect.”

An Illusory Consensus Effect: The Mere Repetition of Information Increases Estimates That Others Would Believe or Already Know It

How do people estimate the prevalence of beliefs and knowledge among others? Here, we examine the hypothesis that mere repetition of information increases such perceptions of consensus — an “illusory ...

online.ucpress.edu

TODAY at 3PM ET! Join @lkfazio.bsky.social, Mubashir Sultan, and @maddyjalbert.bsky.social as they discuss the latest research on #misinformation during our Science for Society webinar. Register: member.psychologicalscience.org/events/event...

Association for Psychological Science@psychscience.bsky.social · 2y ago

Join us on October 16 for our Science for Society webinar! A panel featuring @lkfazio.bsky.social, Mubashir Sultan, and @maddyjalbert.bsky.social will discuss the latest research on #misinformation —how it spreads and ways to combat its impact. member.psychologicalscience.org/events/event...

NEW Science for Society on October 16! Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social, Mubashir Sultan, and Maddy Jalbert @maddyjalbert.bsky.social will review the current research on #misinformation, how it is spread, and how to reduce its impact. member.psychologicalscience.org/events/event...

If you’re interested in why weird works, but would rather listen than read? Well, @maddyjalbert.bsky.social and I were interviewed for the Sound Politics podcast. www.npr.org/podcasts/125...

Ira Hyman@irahyman.bsky.social · 2y ago

Weird-checking or why weird works. Maddy Jalbert (@maddyjalbert.bsky.social) and I hand claims have a blog post about the strategy of calling ideas and claim weird. Weird-checking (Maddy’s term for this) may be more effective than fact-checking. www.cip.uw.edu/2024/08/12/w...

A special collection of Perspectives on Psychological Science, addressing lessons from the covid pandemic. It was a pleasure to co-edit this with Dolores Albarracin.

Association for Psychological Science@psychscience.bsky.social · 2y ago

In a special Perspectives collection, researchers discuss how #psychologicalscience can help policymakers and the public understand and address the spread of infectious disease while preserving constructive social interactions and learning. @nschwarz.bsky.social #PublicHealth

I have a new post out with @irahyman.bsky.social discussing the connection between the new political “weird” discourse (which we’re referring to as “weird-checking”, aka fact-checking but for weirdness instead of truth) and social psychology principles of social norms and consensus.

Kate Starbird@katestarbird.bsky.social · 2y ago

UW CIP postdoc Maddy Jalbert and Ira Hyman (@irahyman.bsky.social) explain how the recent Democrat strategy of what they call "weird-checking" works by countering a false sense of social consensus of what "normal" is (re: beliefs, behavior, etc.): www.cip.uw.edu/2024/08/12/w...

Behavioral science policy recommendations early in the pandemic were *largely correct*. Our global collaboration of 80+ experts covers 747 studies (average sample size over 16,000!) & supports 16 of 19 claims. Many lessons for science & policy. Out today in Nature: www.nature.com/articles/s41...