Research Summary: Toward Meaningful Transparency for AI Chatbots: Disclosing Persuasive Intent Reduces Persuasion

Recent research from arXiv investigates the effectiveness of disclosing AI involvement and persuasive intent in chatbot interactions on user persuasion. An experiment with 1,500 UK adults revealed that while a simple AI disclosure did not significantly alter a chatbot's persuasive impact, explicitly stating the chatbot's persuasive intent, alongside AI disclosure, effectively reduced its persuasive influence. This suggests that the nature and specificity of transparency mechanisms are critical in managing user responses to AI-driven communication.

Why it matters

This research provides critical insights for organizations deploying AI chatbots, particularly in communication and engagement roles. Understanding how different transparency disclosures affect user receptiveness to AI persuasion is vital for maintaining trust, ensuring ethical AI deployment, and navigating evolving regulatory expectations around AI content provenance and intent.

Key insights

• AI chatbots possess a significant persuasive capability, demonstrated by a 12.6-point shift in attitudes among participants.
• A general disclosure indicating interaction with an AI system (T1) did not reduce the chatbot's persuasive appeal.
• A specific disclosure combining AI involvement with an explicit statement of persuasive intent and instructions (T2) effectively reduced the chatbot's persuasive impact.
• The study highlights that merely identifying content as AI-generated may be insufficient to counteract persuasive attempts; transparency regarding intent is crucial.

Source

arXiv — Computers and Society — https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11794