Andrew Gordon

Physical touch might be one of our best behavioural indicators of social connection. Unlike loneliness surveys, you can't be hugged without another person choosing to embrace you...

Full data: www.prolific.com/polling

The patterns are stark:

Men: 21.1% vs Women: 12.6%
African Americans: 24.9% (highest)
White Americans: 15.2%
Political independents: 18.7%
Republicans: 15.1%

1 in 6 Americans can't remember the last time someone hugged them.

@joinprolific.bsky.social surveyed 1,917 US adults: 24.6% were hugged today, 31.7% in the past few days. But 16.7% couldn't remember, it had been so long, the memory was gone. 🧵

There's not just a generational wealth gap anymore. There's a wellbeing gap too.

And right now, it's hitting younger people the hardest.

(Data from our latest @joinprolific.bsky.social poll - November 2024)

Full data: www.prolific.com/polling

Millennials/older Gen Z are carrying the heaviest load:

- Student loans
- Locked out of housing market
- Childcare costs through the roof
- Job market being disrupted by AI

Financial crisis → Pandemic → Cost-of-living crisis

25-34 year-olds: Just 23% doing well (29% actively struggling)

35-54 year-olds: Stuck around 31% for two decades

65+ year-olds: 48% doing well

That's more than double their younger counterparts.

We asked 1,917 Americans: "Are you OK?"

Only 38% said yes.

41% said things are difficult. 21% are actively struggling.

But the age breakdown is wild 🧵

AI will soon be able to audit all published research – what will that mean for public trust in science? An AI audit of scientific research would likely expose some fraud and widespread inconsequential work. But we need to be careful it doesn’t discredit science in general.

AI will soon expose that most published research is mediocre, irrelevant (or simply bullsh*t). Most scientists know that, but the public doesn't... What's it going to do for trust in science when they find out - how do we plan for it? 🤔

Great article by @naomioreskes.bsky.social

shorturl.at/i2Hn5

What is one question you'd dearly love to ask a representative sample of 2,000 US adults?

Going to try this again because it was super interesting last time. I'll stick the best question in our next @joinprolific.bsky.social poll that goes live at the start of November.

#polling #research

Generative AI might end up being worthless — and that could be a good thing GenAI does some neat, helpful things, but it’s not yet the engine of a new economy — and it might not ever be.

Plot twist: What if AI's best future might not be the insanely profitable one 🤔

Great article arguing that instead of trillion-dollar empires, we could get free, open-source models that are just "good enough" for most people. Would that be so bad?

theconversation.com/generative-a...

#AI #tech

The Double Squeeze hitting Trump's base.

9 months of @joinprolific.bsky.social tracking show voters report surging costs AND growing fears of US global decline.

They voted for prosperity & strength. They got strain & decline.

Full analysis: www.prolific.com/resources/tr...

#poll #geopolitics

Super excited to share this work with the world!

We wanted to put human preference at the heart of our AI model leaderboard, and to do so in a principled and representative manner.

The result: HUMAINE

Check out the data here and get in touch with any questions: huggingface.co/spaces/Proli...

Bodies like the AISI get this right by combining industry knowledge with academic independence. We need more of that, not less, especially when the stakes are so high to. We're essentially in a winner-takes-all race for AGI, but we shouldn't sacrifice public trust to get there faster. [3/3]

The current approach is backwards. We let companies lead on policy while academics and researchers get sidelined. Meanwhile, Trump's deregulatory push is creating a free-for-all that prioritises market cap over public interest. Hybrid governance models are the only sensible path forward. [2/3]

Sharing a piece I wrote for The AI Journal on who should govern AI: aijourn.com/a-fine-balan...

Our recent @joinprolific.bsky.social polling shows 69.7% of people think AI investment will primarily benefit corporations not the public. They're probably right. [1/3]

#AI #AIGovernance #TechPolicy

📊 Our new @joinprolific.bsky.social AI User Experience Leaderboard is live!

AI systems ranked by real human experience, not just technical metrics. Using Census-based sampling + MRP for results that represent the general public.

Check it out here: huggingface.co/spaces/nlpet...

bsky.app/profile/andr...

Affecting even the Republican base

See the breakdowns by other demographics in our interactive tracker here: prolific-beta.shinyapps.io/prolific-pol...

Is #Trump right to walk back the tariffs? Our latest
Prolific polling data suggests a resounding yes! In the last month the number of US adults reporting an increase in the price of everyday goods has jumped by ~10%, even for #Republican voters 😬

I'm super happy with this video from Communications of the ACM on our paper about LLM use in crowd work. Our work will be the cover paper of CACM in March.

cacm.acm.org/research/pre...

Cc: @veniamin.bsky.social @andrewgordon.bsky.social

Has the US public's view of foreign policy changed since #DonaldTrump became president?

Our Prolific tracking polls show a general perception of a less safe world since Trump took office. This perception is strongest in #Democrats, while most #Republicans see the world as safer!

You can find the full dataset here: osf.io/eb9pd

#Poll #opinionpolling #USElection2024

🌎 Perhaps more concerningly, for Hispanics (61%) and Asians (53%) and African Americans (46%) the majority express fear, whereas the majority of White participants express hope (45%). These data may reflect some of the rhetoric around #immigration touted by the incoming administration.

🗳 #Republicans overwhelmingly express hope (83%), while #Democrats are overwhelmingly fearful (81%) - a clear indication of the ongoing political divide.

How does the US public feel about the incoming #Trump administration? We asked a representative sample of 1,938 US adults on Prolific "Are you hopeful or fearful ahead of President-elect Trump coming back to office?"

🇺🇸 Overall 46% were fearful and 41% hopeful. But stark differences in subgroups 👇

How did the debate performances of #kamalaharris and #donaldtrump impact perceptions among the public (especially in swing states)?

Find out in our latest Prolific US polling round up: prolific.com/resources/sw...

#polling #PresidentialElection2024 #presidentialdebate