iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 31/03/2026

Reposted by Neil Kirk

What you think of a particular language, dialect, or accent is about your attitude towards the people who use it, not some intrinsic property of the linguistic variety itself All varieties are valid, systematic, worthy of study and respect

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This work has just been published in the Journal of Cybersecurity and was possible thanks to a Think Big Leverage Fund award from @the-sipr.bsky.social

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In practical terms, AI voice fraud prevention campaigns and public awareness messaging should focus on updating people's knowledge of what AI can do, instead of just telling them to be careful.

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But the good news is, we can change their MINDSET to protect them!

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Because technology has historically struggled to understand their speech, they don't expect it to sound like them either - so when it does, it seems all the more convincingly human. I call this the MINDSET bias (Minority, Indigenous, Non-standard, and Dialect-Shaped Expectations of Technology).

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Why does this matter? Speakers of regional, minority, and non-standard language varieties are at particular risk of AI voice-based fraud.

But warning them about the potential dangers of AI voices and explicitly encouraging them to be vigilant did nothing!

DIGIT @digitfyi.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

While my previous work showed that people are more likely to assume an AI voice is human when it speaks in a familiar local dialect, my new paper shows that simply telling people that AI can authentically use regional accents and dialects is enough to increase their vigilance.

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

As synthetic voices become indistinguishable from real ones, DIGIT spoke with psychologist Dr Neil Kirk about how our instinct to trust our own accents could make way for deepfakes targeting not just individuals, but entire regions. www.digit.fyi/psychology-b... #deepfakes #AIvoices #AyeRobot

digit.fyi

Too Authentic to be Synthetic: The Psychology Behind AI Voice Scams

As AI voices become eerily realistic, new research shows that the instinct to trust our own accents could make us more vulnerable to deepfakes

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

🧠 Is your mindset making you more vulnerable to AI voice-based deception? I've got a new pre-print out: osf.io/preprints/ps... Vigilance towards AI voices can be nudged through a change in MINDSET Thread below 👇 #AI #Voice #Cybersecurity #Fraud #Psychology 1/11

osf.io

OSF

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Very grateful to @the-sipr.bsky.social for funding this important work. 11/11

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💡 Why it matters: This could have real-world implications for designing public awareness campaigns and scam prevention messages. 10/11

🏠 Take-Home Message: Simply telling people that AI voices can speak with a Scottish accent/dialect was far more effective than warning them to be vigilant. 9/11

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However, an explicit vigilance-based nudge warning about the dangers of AI voices and urging listeners “if in doubt, think AI” had no effect, unless paired with the capability message about AI’s linguistic abilities. 8/11

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A positively framed nudge highlighting AI’s capability to reproduce underrepresented accents and dialects significantly reduced this bias – in other words, changing their MINDSET made them more vigilant towards AI voices using these varieties. 7/11

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In this manuscript, I investigate whether simple informational nudges can shift these assumptions and reduce the bias for responding “Human”. Across two experiments, participants categorised voices as either Human or AI. 6/11

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Yet that assumption could be putting some language communities at greater risk of AI voice-based deception if they believe a voice speaking that way must be a real person. 5/11

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In my new paper, I introduce the concept of MINDSET: Minority, Indigenous, Non-standard, and Dialect-Shaped Expectations of Technology. It reflects the idea that people assume AI can’t convincingly reproduce underrepresented ways of speaking. 4/11

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I also suspect this is not unique to Scotland, but part of a global pattern affecting communities whose voices have historically been excluded from these systems. 3/11

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My previous work showed that listeners were more likely to believe an AI voice was a real human when it spoke in a local dialect. I think this happens because we’re not used to speech technology understanding these varieties - never mind speaking them! 2/11

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Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

osf.io

OSF

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New achievement unlocked - delivering the oration for Brian Cox. I didn’t faint, nor did he use any of his famous catchphrases on me. Success!

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Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Made another wee video about one of our recently published papers…

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Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

… or take Monday off. (Yes that was me).

Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

I’m on TikTok and Instagram @ drspeakmind - please give me a follow and see how well you can spot AI voices! 🗣️

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

Scottish Institute for Policing Research @the-sipr.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

🎓 Fully funded PhD at Abertay University & SIPR: Enabling People to Identify Deepfakes. £20,780/year, fees paid, starts Oct 2025. Use eye-tracking to research deepfake detection. Apply by 30 June 👉 www.abertay.ac.uk/about/workin... #PhD #Cybersecurity #Deepfakes

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Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

It’s always lovely to receive a “to me, love from me, well done on finishing your marking” present.

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

Lara Wood @larawood.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

🚨New publication... Children's films contain innacurate gender stereotypes and these corresespond to children's (and adult's) implicit and explicit gendered associations. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Read thread for more details...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Mr Predator and Mrs Prey: Gender Stereotypes in Children's Films Correlate With Explicit and Implicit Gender Stereotyping

Children acquire gender stereotypes at a young age and these subsequently influence cognition and behavior. Stereotypes may be learned through a child's direct observation of gender differences as we....

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

This might make some language communities more vulnerable to AI voice-based deception. Luckily I’ve been given some funding to investigate this further, so watch this space!

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Do they factor self-indulgent puntastic titles into REF scores? I sure hope so! 😄

This might make some language communities more vulnerable to AI voice-based deception. Luckily I’ve been given some funding to investigate this further, so watch this space!

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But this bias was stronger in a regional dialect for those who were more familiar with it. I think this is because prior experiences with voice technology that doesn’t represent (or understand) regional or minority language varieties made listeners think “AI can’t speak like that”…

In two experiments I showed that listeners had a bias towards responding “human” when asked to identify if a voice was a natural human speaker or had been augmented by AI to change the voice into a new vocal identity…

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“Eh? Aye!”: Categorisation bias for natural human vs AI-augmented voices is influenced by dialect

I’m extremely chuffed my new paper “Eh? Aye!”: Categorisation bias for natural human vs AI-augmented voices is influenced by dialect” has just been published in Computers in Human Behavior: Artifical Humans. (and not just because my best work is in the title!) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Advances in AI-assisted voice technology have made it easier to clone or disguise voices, creating a wide range of synthetic voices using different ac…

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Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Never knew hearing a Drag Queen play a medley of 90s dance hits on the saxophone could be so healing 🧘‍♂️

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

Vera Kempe @vkempe.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

I wrote this for my US friends and colleagues, but also for all of us. Lessons from the past. open.substack.com/pub/verakemp...

open.substack.com

Scholarship Under Autocracy

We Have Been Here Before

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Reposted by Neil Kirk

Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

🗣️ Do you like the sound of your own voice? 🤖 Would you use an AI clone of your voice in a video game, a personal voice assistant or even your Sat Nav? Usually when I ask this question, most people say "no." But what if I told you that your brain is naturally wired to prefer your own voice?

bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

<em>British Journal of Psychology</em> | Wiley Online Library

Self-cues such as one's own name or face attract attention, reflecting a bias for stimuli connected to self to be prioritized in cognition. Recent evidence suggests that even external voices can elic...

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Neil Kirk @drspeakmind.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

A huge thank you to my colleague and co-author, Professor Sheila Cunningham. This collaboration has been immensely rewarding and enjoyable, and I'm eagerly looking forward to all the exciting future projects we have in store!