Maddy Jalbert

Check out "The persuasive potential of AI-paraphrased information at scale," an open-access article exploring "AIPasta," written by a team of @cip.uw.edu researchers led by @dashsaloni.bsky.social with co-authors @yiweixu.bsky.social, @maddyjalbert.bsky.social and @emmaspiro.bsky.social ⤵️

I think perceptions of how common the behavior is is part of the mechanism proposed in the original paper but really need to go back in and do a closer read of it! Definitely agree that they’re connected judgments though.

Repeatedly Encountered Descriptions of Wrongdoing Seem More True but Less Unethical: Evidence in a Naturalistic Setting - PubMed When news about moral transgressions goes viral on social media, the same person may repeatedly encounter identical reports about a wrongdoing. In a longitudinal experiment (<i>N</i> = 607 U.S. adults...

The repetition/moral condemnation work is nice. Recommend the original Effron & Raj (2020) piece and this Pillai et al (2023) extension - note that it’s following up on the finding for judgments of the news itself, not sharing pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37428445/

The persuasive potential of AI-paraphrased information at scale Abstract. In this article, we study how AI-paraphrased messages have the potential to amplify the persuasive impact and scale of information campaigns. Bui

Excited to announce that my paper "The persuasive potential of AI-paraphrased information at scale" with my wonderful collaborators @yiweixu.bsky.social, @maddyjalbert.bsky.social, and @emmaspiro.bsky.social has been published at PNAS Nexus!

Link: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Hi friends, the Spark Society's NSF funding has been terminated. We are dedicated to continuing our work and hope we can rely on you for support.

Ugh, I’m so sorry. It’s wild :(. You’re not paid direct, are you? If you are, we should dm to coordinate as it’s unclear to me how to navigate the finances regarding the stipend now and I’m hopefully talking to my PO tomorrow.

The email I received for my termination is not even specific to my funding as it includes details that aren’t consistent with how my grant operates.

This funding is my sole source of income (as per my agreement with NSF, you are not allowed to take on other work). Additionally, because I am paid directly by the NSF, my university does not consider me to be an employee so I don’t have the same protections as other employed postdocs.

I got an email yesterday afternoon that my NSF SPRF Postdoctoral Fellowship was terminated. My grant focused on testing interventions to address online misinformation and I was 8 months into a two year appointment.

Well last time he wore the glasses he got more attention so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s orders The US National Science Foundation has unfrozen grant funding, but it continues to scrutinize research projects, sowing turmoil.

NEW: We obtained the directions NSF program officers are following to review all grants for compliance with the Trump EOs and the turmoil it has created in an agency mandated to broaden STEM participation. Our story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

National Science Foundation restores payments after five-day pause, but worries over science funding persist The NSF said on Sunday that its payment system was back on line, after it froze out researchers and sparked financial worries.

NSF froze payments to researchers.

State AGs said it was unconstitutional for exec branch to pause congressionally mandated funds.

Judge issued restraining order.

Payments resumed.

But some inconsistencies in what the NSF has said (thread):
www.statnews.com/2025/02/02/n...

UAW 4121 is organizing and we had a great phone banking session today with unions across the country! Having their backing is the best.

(I called it a salary in my main post but technically it’s a stipend)

have employee protections or benefits. The stipend I receive is also lower than the minimum established by my university for postdocs who are considered employees 🙃. So it’s prestigious but (at least at my university) a much more vulnerable position to be in.

(I called it a “salary” in the main post but technically it’s a stipend - there is no paycheck)

NSF Fellows are in a unique situation. The funds are distributed directly from NSF and are available for me to withdraw on a disbursement schedule. Technically I’m not employed by either the NSF or my university. I have an appointment at my university but am not considered an employee so I don’t

are due for payment sooner or may not have withdrawn their full stipend upfront. It’s unclear at what point taking on other funding would be allowed.

The situation is confusing as, per the contract with NSF, you’re not allowed to take on outside work from your university and I’m not technically a university employee. You can withdraw your stipend on a dispersement schedule so I’m technically paid until Feb 15th, but some postdocs

Calling reps and Senators is great. I would also recommend connecting with local postdoc/student worker unions to see if there are any actions you can get involved in – there’s some great work going on there.

I am one of these NSF postdocs. NSF has frozen everyone’s access to their salaries and research stipends (that were already awarded) with no information about when they might be expected to be unfrozen. It still appears like we are expected to continue doing our work though.

Apparently all the PhD researchers holding prestigious NSF-funded research fellowships are having their salaries withheld until some unspecified time when the leadership figures out how to eliminate any grant funding that doesn’t align with the president’s political ideology.

Fingers crossed for you too! Terrible and devastating in so many ways.

What I don’t know is what happens if you’re employed by your university and they don’t have the funds. Your own HR is probably the place to go!

I had already withdrawn what was available to me for the current period. I have more funds available mid-February so if things are still paused at that point, that’s when I’ll be impacted.

For example, every three months I get more funding available to withdraw. Your university may have already received funds it needs to cover salaries on the grant for a while or they may be expecting it soon. So a pause right now might not have any effect or it could be a problem immediately.

It’s complicated and my guess is also that it’s university/grant/contract dependent. Access to the funds are currently just on pause. Each grant has a dispersement schedule where a certain amount of funds are available at a certain date (when your university can then request them).

Very scary. I’m an NSF postdoc fellow who is paid directly from NSF (vs. the funds going through an institution first). All postdocs in my position are now blocked out of accessing our stipends and research funds.

Yes, this is the case - you cannot withdraw funds that have already been awarded with ACM$ down and all pending requests are being canceled.

HCDE Professor Kate Starbird awarded Presidential Early Career Award HCDE Professor Kate Starbird is among a distinguished group of scientists and engineers across the country honored with a 2025 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) fro...

Join us in congratulating HCDE Professor Kate Starbird on receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This prestigious honor recognizes her groundbreaking research on the dynamics of misinformation and disinformation online.