Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Artificial Intelligence: The Roles of Social Media Exposure and Information Elaboration

Wenbo Li (Grady MA alum), Xu, S., Zheng, X., & Ruoyu Sun (2024). Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Artificial Intelligence: The Roles of Social Media Exposure and Information Elaboration. Science Communication, 10755470241232352. https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470241232352

Abstract: This study examined how social media influence the knowledge gap between low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups in artificial intelligence (AI), a highly debated scientific subject warranting immediate scholarly attention. A national survey of U.S. adults (N = 965) was conducted. The results showed that education and social media exposure to AI information (SME) predicted greater AI knowledge, and SME did not moderate the SES-based AI knowledge gap. Furthermore, information elaboration moderated the association between SME and the AI knowledge gap. SME was associated with a smaller AI knowledge gap when information elaboration was high rather than low.