AI-enhanced petitions on Change.org: More text, less success
The change was obvious—but in the end, things stayed about the same. Cornell researchers took advantage of online petition website Change.org's gradual rollout of an artificial intelligence writing tool to gauge AI-enhanced language's impact on petition outcomes.
Researchers at Cornell found that adding an AI writing assistant to the online petition platform Change.org led to more similar and longer petitions, but did not boost petition success rates. Cornell scientists Mor Naaman and doctoral student Isabel Corpus along with other colleagues analyzed over a million petitions, comparing those written before and after the AI tool's introduction in 2023.
The AI tool was rolled out gradually in English-speaking countries, allowing researchers to measure its impact. The AI-enhanced petitions became longer, had more complex vocabulary, and shared similar language in their titles, such as requesting "implementation," "mandate," or "urge." However, outcomes like comments per 30 days and signature counts did not improve compared to before the AI tool's release.
In fact, comments per 30 days dropped by around 5%. The researchers believe this is because AI-generated petitions are less specific and less compelling compared to those written by people. Engagement, such as shares, is crucial for petition success, and AI-generated petitions may not inspire the same level of trust or sharing among users.
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