Newswise: Your Zoom background might influence the first impression you make. “In a new study, participants tended to judge faces appearing against backgrounds featuring houseplants or bookcases as more trustworthy and competent than faces with a living space or a novelty image behind them. Gender and facial expression also appeared to influence judgments.”
Cornell University: Teens who trust online information find it less stressful. “Surveying nearly 170 adolescents and young adults from the U.S. and U.K. early in the pandemic, the researchers found that those more trusting of the COVID-19 information they saw on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok were more likely to feel it was empowering, while those less trusting were more likely to find it stressful.”
NewsWise: UTHealth Houston study: Caregivers trust social media more than physicians with CTE questions. “Those caring for people who are at an increased risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) are more likely to turn to social media for answers than physicians, according to research from UTHealth Houston.”
University of Michigan: Robot: I’m sorry. Human: I don’t care anymore!. “Humans are less forgiving of robots after multiple mistakes—and the trust is difficult to get back, according to a new University of Michigan study.”
Yale Insights: Building Trust with the Algorithms in Our Lives. “Consumers are wary of the recommendations made by algorithms. But according to new research co-authored by Yale SOM’s Taly Reich, showing that an algorithm can learn—that it improves over time—helps to resolve this distrust.”
SingularityHub: People Trust Deepfake Faces Generated by AI More Than Real Ones, Study Finds. “The proliferation of deepfake technology is raising concerns that AI could start to warp our sense of shared reality. New research suggests AI-synthesized faces don’t simply dupe us into thinking they’re real people, we actually trust them more than our fellow humans.”
Tech Xplore: AI researchers trust international, scientific organizations most, study finds. “Researchers working in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence trust international and scientific organizations the most to shape the development and use of AI in the public interest. But who do they trust the least? National militaries, Chinese tech companies and Facebook.”
CNET: Alexa and Google Assistant are developing personalities. “Google Assistant may be the most naturalistic voice assistant yet, but neither it nor Alexa and Siri are close to achieving the sentience you see in movies like Her. They won’t be your friend, your significant other or (if 2001: A Space Odyssey is more your bag) your mortal enemy. But your relationships with them could have further reaching consequences than you think.”
Phys. org: You’re probably more susceptible to misinformation than you think. “Ask people directly and most will tell you they don’t trust the news they see on social media. And a landmark study in 2019 found 43% of social media users admitted to sharing inaccurate content themselves. So people are certainly aware in principle that misinformation is common online. But ask people where they learned about the ‘facts’ that support their political opinions, and the answer will often be social media.”
Phys .org: By leap of faith? How to regain trust in science and expertise. “Fake news? Post-truth? Populism? In the current environment of growing scepticism about political institutions and a dismissal of journalism and scientific facts, public trust in expertise is seen as eroding. Such trends are often associated with a changing digital communication landscape where new responses and mechanisms are required to find common ground in public discourse and decision-making.”
MIT Technology Review: Most Americans think they’re being constantly tracked—and that there’s nothing they can do. “It’s not just that Americans (correctly) think companies are collecting their data. They don’t like it. About 69% of Americans are skeptical that companies will use their private information in a way they’re comfortable with, while 79% don’t believe that companies will come clean if they misuse the information.”
Phys .org: Cynical social media voices can erode trust in news media. “Amid rising concerns about low public trust in mainstream media institutions, a Rutgers study found that real-life and online social interactions can strongly influence a person’s trust in newspaper, TV and online journalism—but when it comes to online interactions, cynical views are the most influential.”
Ozy: Distrusting The Press, Arab Youth Turn To Social Media. “Ahmad couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the headline. It was December 2017 and Mada Masr — Egypt’s last independent outlet — published an investigation detailing how a front for the Egyptian intelligence agency bought seven of the country’s most prominent media outlets. ‘I knew never to trust mainstream Egyptian media again,’ says Ahmad, a 23-year-old activist who asked not to disclose his last name for fear of reprisal. ‘From then on, Facebook became the only place where I could get my breaking news, but I also check Mada Masr.’”
Ottawa Citizen: Social media skepticism helping fuel distrust of the internet, survey finds. “A new global survey suggests distrust of the internet is being fuelled by growing skepticism of social-media services like Facebook and Twitter. One in four people who took part in the survey said they didn’t trust the internet, a view increasingly being driven by lack of confidence in social media, governments and search engines.”
Hacker Noon: The Instagram of Trust: How to Redesign the Architecture of Trust in Products. “More technology requires us to give up our privacy for the cost of better personalization. But how to fix the issue of ever growing lack of trust in our society? More and more brands are asking people for trust based on their promises and by being transparent about its policies. But the psychology of trust works quite differently. There have been many attempts and debates happening around the black box of algorithms and being transparent about how the algorithms work. But I would like to ask: Is transparency enough? Is it an effective way to build a long-lasting relationship with a customer? Is it going to build trust in a brand and in a product?”
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