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Trust Archives

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AI
Trust

How does AI sycophancy affect user trust?

Most people expect artificial intelligence to be smart. Fewer expect it to flatter them. Yet increasingly, AI systems are designed to sound agreeable, supportive, and emotionally aligned with users.

Posted: Monday May 11, 2026
Young female wearing a lab coat and gloves seated at a lab bench handling objects.

Trust

Calling Wonder Woman for Science: How Female Experts Engender Likability and Trust

Public trust in science has been declining for decades, a challenge that may be exacerbated by pop culture and media portrayals of scientists as cold and disconnected. Could a female face give science communication the warmth it needs to succeed?

Posted: Monday February 3, 2025

Legal, Policy and First Amendment
Trust

Beyond Consent: Rethinking Privacy in the Digital Age

In an age where data drives much of our digital interactions, questions about privacy and consent are more pressing than ever. As tech evolves, so do the complexities of navigating the digital landscape — particularly when it comes to the collection and use of our personal data. This book chapter argues that the traditional understanding of consent — where individuals simply opt into terms and conditions — fails to protect users in the current data ecosystem.

Posted: Friday January 31, 2025

Media Industry and Consumers
Trust

Personalized Ads: Friend, Foe or Creepy Stalker?

Personalized ads based on data gathered online are becoming the norm. Does being upfront about data collection make people more comfortable with online behavioral advertising, or does it just remind them of how much they’re being tracked?

Posted: Tuesday January 28, 2025

AI
Trust

“Don’t Believe Everything You Read Online”: How AI Fact-Checking Could Challenge Political Bias in Science Information Processing

As social media has grown into many people’s primary news source, so has its potential for misinformation. Facebook and X have both launched fact-checking tools to combat so-called fake news. Yet many users dismiss the fact-check itself as false, especially when it challenges their preexisting views. Could an AI fact-checker seem more objective and help change minds?

Posted: Thursday December 12, 2024

Media Industry and Consumers
Trust

All Media Trust is Not Created Equal

Distrust in “mass media” is high. But a vast majority say that their local journalists are doing a good job of reporting news in their communities accurately.

Posted: Thursday October 31, 2024

Trust

Untrustworthy Hyperlinks on News Sites are Adding to the Misinformation Crisis

Misinformation is spreading rapidly in the digital universe, especially during election season, and the hyperlinks found on untrustworthy news sites may be partly to blame, according to an interdisciplinary team of researchers.

Posted: Tuesday September 17, 2024

Audience
Trust

Better Together: Interacting with News Portals Increases Civic Engagement

The majority of people in the U.S. get their online news from individual news organizations, which publish proprietary stories written by their own reporters. In South Korea, most people access news portals, which aggregate stories from multiple sources. This study explores how perceived news portal credibility influences the connection between online engagement and civic participation.

Posted: Thursday February 29, 2024
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