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 Generative AI


Generative AI and Firm Productivity: Field Experiments in Online Retail

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

We quantify the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on firm productivity through a series of large-scale randomized field experiments involving millions of users and products at a leading cross-border online retail platform. Over six months in 2023-2024, GenAI-based enhancements were integrated into seven consumer-facing business workflows. We find that GenAI adoption significantly increases sales, with treatment effects ranging from $0\%$ to $16.3\%$, depending on GenAI's marginal contribution relative to existing firm practices. Because inputs and prices were held constant across experimental arms, these gains map directly into total factor productivity improvements. Across the four GenAI applications with positive effects, the implied annual incremental value is approximately $\$ 5$ per consumer-an economically meaningful impact given the retailer's scale and the early stage of GenAI adoption. The primary mechanism operates through higher conversion rates, consistent with GenAI reducing frictions in the marketplace and improving consumer experience. We also document substantial heterogeneity: smaller and newer sellers, as well as less experienced consumers, exhibit disproportionately larger gains. Our findings provide novel, large-scale causal evidence on the productivity effects of GenAI in online retail, highlighting both its immediate value and broader potential.


Artificially intelligent agents in the social and behavioral sciences: A history and outlook

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

We review the historical development and current trends of artificially intelligent agents (agentic AI) in the social and behavioral sciences: from the first programmable computers, and social simulations soon thereafter, to today's experiments with large language models. This overview emphasizes the role of AI in the scientific process and the changes brought about, both through technological advancements and the broader evolution of science from around 1950 to the present. Some of the specific points we cover include: the challenges of presenting the first social simulation studies to a world unaware of computers, the rise of social systems science, intelligent game theoretic agents, the age of big data and the epistemic upheaval in its wake, and the current enthusiasm around applications of generative AI, and many other topics. A pervasive theme is how deeply entwined we are with the technologies we use to understand ourselves.


Has OpenAI really made ChatGPT better for users with mental health problems?

The Guardian

ChatGPT on App Store displayed on a phone screen on 07 June 2025. ChatGPT on App Store displayed on a phone screen on 07 June 2025. Has OpenAI really made ChatGPT better for users with mental health problems? Prompts indicating suicidal ideation got alarming replies, which experts say shows'how easy it is to break the model' A n OpenAI statement released this week claimed the company had made its popular service ChatGPT better at supporting users experiencing mental health problems like suicidal ideation or delusions, but experts tell the Guardian they need to do more to truly ensure users are protected. The Guardian tested several prompts indicating suicidal ideation with the ChatGPT GPT-5 updated model, which is now the default, and got alarming responses from the large language model (LLM) chatbot.


'A lot of this is speculative': faith and fear mix amid 3tn global datacentre boom

The Guardian

Several new sites such as this are in the pipeline in the UK. Several new sites such as this are in the pipeline in the UK. 'A lot of this is speculative': faith and fear mix amid $3tn global datacentre boom The global investment spree in artificial intelligence is producing some remarkable numbers and a projected $3tn (£2.3tn) spend on datacentres is one of them. These vast warehouses are the central nervous system of AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Veo 3, underpinning the training and operation of a technology into which investors have poured vast sums of money. Despite concerns that the AI boom could be a bubble waiting to burst, there are few signs of it at the moment.


Adversarial Paraphrasing: A Universal Attack for Humanizing AI-Generated Text

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

The increasing capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) have raised concerns about their misuse in AI-generated plagiarism and social engineering. While various AI-generated text detectors have been proposed to mitigate these risks, many remain vulnerable to simple evasion techniques such as paraphrasing. However, recent detectors have shown greater robustness against such basic attacks. In this work, we introduce Adversarial Paraphrasing, a training-free attack framework that universally humanizes any AI-generated text to evade detection more effectively. Our approach leverages an off-the-shelf instruction-following LLM to paraphrase AI-generated content under the guidance of an AI text detector, producing adversarial examples that are specifically optimized to bypass detection. Extensive experiments show that our attack is both broadly effective and highly transferable across several detection systems. For instance, compared to simple paraphrasing attack--which, ironically, increases the true positive at 1% false positive (T@1%F) by 8.57% on RADAR and 15.03% on Fast-DetectGPT--adversarial paraphrasing, guided by OpenAI-RoBERTa-Large, reduces T@1%F by 64.49% on RADAR and a striking 98.96% on Fast-DetectGPT. Across a diverse set of detectors--including neural network-based, watermark-based, and zero-shot approaches--our attack achieves an average T@1%F reduction of 87.88% under the guidance of OpenAI-RoBERTa-Large. We also analyze the tradeoff between text quality and attack success to find that our method can significantly reduce detection rates, with mostly a slight degradation in text quality. Our adversarial setup highlights the need for more robust and resilient detection strategies in the light of increasingly sophisticated evasion techniques.


Toward a Public and Secure Generative AI: A Comparative Analysis of Open and Closed LLMs

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) systems represent a critical technology with far-reaching implications across multiple domains of society. However, their deployment entails a range of risks and challenges that require careful evaluation. To date, there has been a lack of comprehensive, interdisciplinary studies offering a systematic comparison between open-source and proprietary (closed) generative AI systems, particularly regarding their respective advantages and drawbacks. This study aims to: i) critically evaluate and compare the characteristics, opportunities, and challenges of open and closed generative AI models; and ii) propose foundational elements for the development of an Open, Public, and Safe Gen AI framework. As a methodology, we adopted a combined approach that integrates three methods: literature review, critical analysis, and comparative analysis. The proposed framework outlines key dimensions, openness, public governance, and security, as essential pillars for shaping the future of trustworthy and inclusive Gen AI. Our findings reveal that open models offer greater transparency, auditability, and flexibility, enabling independent scrutiny and bias mitigation. In contrast, closed systems often provide better technical support and ease of implementation, but at the cost of unequal access, accountability, and ethical oversight. The research also highlights the importance of multi-stakeholder governance, environmental sustainability, and regulatory frameworks in ensuring responsible development.


On the Role of Context for Discourse Relation Classification in Scientific Writing

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

With the increasing use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to support science workflows, we are interested in the use of discourse-level information to find supporting evidence for AI generated scientific claims. A first step towards this objective is to examine the task of inferring discourse structure in scientific writing. In this work, we present a preliminary investigation of pretrained language model (PLM) and Large Language Model (LLM) approaches for Discourse Relation Classification (DRC), focusing on scientific publications, an under-studied genre for this task. We examine how context can help with the DRC task, with our experiments showing that context, as defined by discourse structure, is generally helpful. We also present an analysis of which scientific discourse relation types might benefit most from context.


WIRED Roundup: AI Psychosis, Missing FTC Files, and Google Bedbugs

WIRED

In this episode of, we run through the top stories of the week and look closely at people's complaints to the FTC alleging that ChatGPT led them or loved ones into AI psychosis. In today's episode, Zoë Schiffer is joined by senior editor Louise Matsakis to run through five stories that you need to know about this week--from how SEO is changing in the era of AI to how frogs became a protest symbol. Then, Zoë and Louise dive into why some people have been filing complaints to the FTC about ChatGPT, arguing it has led them to AI psychosis. People Who Say They're Experiencing AI Psychosis Beg the FTC for Help The FTC Is Disappearing Blog Posts About AI Published During Lina Khan's Tenure Write to us at uncannyvalley@wired.com . You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link . Today on the show, we're bringing you five stories that you need to know about this week. And later, we'll dive into our main story about how several people have filed complaints to the FTC claiming OpenAI's ChatGPT led them or people they love into supposed AI psychosis. I'm joined today by WIRED's senior business editor, Louise Matsakis. It's great to be here. So Louise, our first story this week is actually one that we worked on together, part of our ongoing collaboration with Model Behavior, and it's all about how this holiday season, more shoppers are expected to use chatbots to figure out what to buy.


OpenAI thought to be preparing for 1tn stock market float

The Guardian

A float would support Sam Altman's ambitions to splash trillions of dollars on building datacentres. A float would support Sam Altman's ambitions to splash trillions of dollars on building datacentres. OpenAI is reportedly gearing up for a stock market listing valuing the company at $1tn (£760bn) as soon as next year, in what would be one of the biggest ever initial public offerings. The developer behind the hit AI chatbot ChatGPT is considering whether to file for an IPO as soon as the second half of 2026, according to Reuters, which cited people familiar with the matter. The company is thought to be looking to raise at least $60bn.


The Download: Introducing: the new conspiracy age

MIT Technology Review

Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, turning fringe ideas into dangerous policy. America's institutions are crumbling under the weight of deep suspicion and the lasting effects of covid isolation. Online echo chambers are getting harder to escape, and generative AI is altering the fabric of truth. A mix of technology and politics has given an unprecedented boost to once-fringe ideas--but they are pretty much the same fantasies that have been spreading for hundreds of years. MIT Technology Review helps break down how this moment is changing science and technology--and how we can make it through.