Gabbiadini, A., Manfredi, A., Serrao, F., & Puzella, G. (in press). When the source is artificial: Negative emotions, intergroup anxiety, and threat responses to AI-generated video content. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology.
Understanding how people perceive, evaluate, and interact with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a social presence rather than simply a technological tool. At the Cyberpsychology Lab, we study the social psychology of artificial intelligence, investigating how people perceive, evaluate, trust, and interact with AI systems, particularly generative AI and increasingly human-like artificial agents.
One major research area examines the social and emotional consequences of interacting with artificial intelligence. We investigate when AI is perceived as useful, threatening, competitive, or socially relevant, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Intergroup Threat Theory to understand why artificial agents may elicit anxiety, negative emotions, perceived threat, or resistance. Our work also considers how the perceived source of AI-generated content influences emotional responses, trust, and intentions to use artificial technologies.
A related line of research concerns inclusive artificial intelligence and the role that AI systems may play in social relationships. We are interested in how artificial agents can reproduce, reinforce, or potentially reduce social biases, and in the conditions under which AI may facilitate more inclusive forms of communication and social interaction.
We also investigate the psychological boundary between technology and the self. In particular, our research explores whether artificial intelligence is experienced as an extension of the self and of human capabilities, or whether its use primarily reflects forms of cognitive offloading, in which cognitive tasks are delegated to external systems. These different relationships with AI may have important consequences for autonomy, self-efficacy, agency, and perceptions of personal competence.
Finally, we examine individual differences in AI use, including how personality traits and psychological characteristics are associated with different ways of engaging with artificial intelligence. This includes instrumental uses of AI as well as more socially oriented uses, such as interacting with AI as a conversational partner, advisor, or social companion.
Our goal is to understand artificial intelligence not only as a technology, but as an emerging component of contemporary social life.
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