AI has the potential to deliver socially beneficial outcomes to individuals, communities, and society at large. As a general purpose technology, AI can be used to understand problems, seek solutions, and make decisions to reach results potentially superior to those achieved by other means. Realizing this potential, however, hinges on understanding how AI is transforming our lives so that we can steer the deployment of AI in a direction that is preferable for our society and sustainable for our future.
In this talk, I will present a series of empirical findings that illustrate, across several domains, the opportunities as well as the challenges that confront AI for social good. In particular, I will discuss: the psychological barriers to adopting AI in healthcare, the consequences of automating news reporting for perceptions of news accuracy, the potential risks associated with deployment of AI for trust in public institutions, and whether generative AI and Large Language Models may moralize violations.
I will conclude with a brief discussion of areas relating to AI for social good that would benefit from further research and action.
Chiara Longoni is a social scientist and Associate Professor of Marketing at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.
She completed a Ph.D. in marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business and holds a M.S. (summa cum laude) from Bocconi University, a M.A. (Honors) in Psychology from New York University, and a M. Phil. in Marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Dr. Longoni conducts interdisciplinary, empirical research that investigates adoption of artificial intelligence as a tool for social good, with direct applications for companies, law, and policy. A secondary area of research looks at the determinants of positive behavior change and the drivers of sustainability and climate action.
She is the recipient of the 2023 MSI Young Scholar award, the 2022 Journal of Consumer Research Best Article Award and the 2021-22 American Marketing Association CB SIG Research in Practice Best Article Award. Her work has been published, among others, in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Nature Human Behavior, and Nature Communications.
The seminar will be held in English.
Major information: Marcello Maria Mariani (marcello.mariani@unibo.it).