Tweeting AI: Perceptions of AI-Tweeters (AIT) vs Expert AI-Tweeters (EAIT)

TL;DR

This study analyzes Twitter users' perceptions of AI, comparing general users and experts, revealing differences in emotions, optimism, and information diffusion related to AI discussions.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of public and expert perceptions of AI on Twitter, highlighting emotional differences and information dissemination patterns.

Findings

Both groups view AI positively and are optimistic.

Experts exhibit more negative sentiments than general users.

AI tweets from general users are more widely retweeted.

Abstract

With the recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), various organizations and individuals started debating about the progress of AI as a blessing or a curse for the future of the society. This paper conducts an investigation on how the public perceives the progress of AI by utilizing the data shared on Twitter. Specifically, this paper performs a comparative analysis on the understanding of users from two categories -- general AI-Tweeters (AIT) and the expert AI-Tweeters (EAIT) who share posts about AI on Twitter. Our analysis revealed that users from both the categories express distinct emotions and interests towards AI. Users from both the categories regard AI as positive and are optimistic about the progress of AI but the experts are more negative than the general AI-Tweeters. Characterization of users manifested that `London' is the popular location of users from where they tweet about AI. Tweets posted by AIT are highly retweeted than posts made by EAIT that reveals greater diffusion of information from AIT.