Message from the IPRA President: New era – new bias August 2024

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1 month, 1 week ago

Dear friends and colleagues,

Do you believe that creativity is a uniquely human characteristic? If your answer is “yes” than there is a big chance that you might have an anthropocentric bias. It is not so rare and is highly relevant today to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The term anthropocentrism represents a “philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world”. Related to AI, anthropocentric bias suggests that humans are less willing to accept the involvement of AI in what are seen as typically human tasks.

Art ain’t what it used to be

A recent study Defending humankind: anthropocentric bias in the appreciation of AI art, provides more insights into this phenomenon. The study conducted four experiments, which revealed a bias against AI-made artworks. The same artwork is preferred less when it is labeled as AI-made (vs. human-made) because it is perceived as less creative. It subsequently induces less awe, an emotional response associated with the aesthetic appreciation of art.

For some people this will be an explicit bias. That is something they are conscious of because they resist the technology. For others, the bias will be more subtle, an implicit bias. That is where they are biased against communication and interactions with AI but don't realize it.

From bias back to basics

What can we conclude from this? I suggest that it tells us there will always be a place for human-to-human interaction. And this means that by investing in human-centric skills such as communication, empathy, and negotiation, we have a human-led competitive edge to AI. But perhaps competition is less relevant for the future than collaboration. An example of collaboration was Centaur Chess, where human chess masters teamed up with AI, and created a powerful hybrid competitor. A competitor that defeated a solo human player and outperformed a solo AI player. This synergy between a human and AI demonstrate the possibility of a collaborative future in communication.

If you are not already an IPRA member, I invite you to join us in our own collaborative future in communication.

Kind regards,

Nataša Pavlović Bujas

IPRA President 2024

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