iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Again, today of all days is an important time to recognize that the Democratic Party's 2026/2028 platform must be institutional reform. <Every policy> everyone wants <follows> from that, not the other way around. There will be <one> chance to fix things. We can't waste it again.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Journal of Consumer Research @jcrnews.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Editorship announcement: We are saddened to announce that Giana M. Eckhardt has decided to step down as Co-Editor of the Journal of Consumer Research, for personal reasons. She has been an outstanding Co-Editor, and has worked tirelessly for the journal...

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 09/04/2026

Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel. King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.

king5.com

UW graduate student deported through SEA as protesters demand answers

A union representing University of Washington graduate student workers says Kennedy Orwa’s student visa was rescinded without explanation.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

This was a many-years undertaking, starting with a very Google-specific question years ago that we kept working on into the dawn of AI chat search, which added a whole new dimension to the paper.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Our results suggest that, at least in the context of search, confirmation bias in framing questions is the primary factor -- otherwise the two biases would cancel out and there would be no effect of broadening search.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

An interesting theoretical aspect of this practical question: research in psychology has identified two potential dimensions of confirmation bias, bias in framing question and bias in which answers we pay attention to.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

When platforms adjust algorithms to return broader search results, people update their beliefs more (under some conditions). This can be a good thing, to the degree that the incremental information provided by broadening is accurate.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

The paper, led by Eugina Leung, is here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... We document that the human tendency for confirmation bias in question framing (the tendency of people to frame search in terms of their prior beliefs) and algorithms that optimize for relevance combine to impede belief updating.

pnas.org

The narrow search effect and how broadening search promotes belief updating | PNAS

Information search platforms, from Google to AI-assisted search engines, have transformed information access but may fail to promote a shared factu...

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

People’s spontaneous searches are narrow, intended to produce results in line with their prior beliefs—which tend to persist, but when presented with broader information, they tend to update their beliefs more, research by Leung & @olegurminsky.bsky.social suggests:

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

When you collect data online, are the results from humans or AI? In a project led by Booth PhD student Grace Zhang, we estimate the prevalence of AI agents on commonly used survey platforms: osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵

osf.io

OSF

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Yes, off the shelf agents fail these and we do see failures on the platforms. There are also respondents who fail other checks who pass those. One limitation in our study, however, is that we bundled it with a typing check so we don't have as clear a read on specific checks.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Kianté @kiante.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Worth a look if you're running online studies. Happy to be a part of this, great work led by Grace. Check out Oleg's thread; feedback welcome!

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Agreed, we did not test proctoring.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Nope, not dead at all, it's actually the primary method for collecting custom survey data in social science. My personal opinion is that online data collection is an incredibly valuable resource that we need to invest in saving from obliteration by AI, your view may differ.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Ooops. Meant to say "AI checks can also mistake non-compliant human respondents for AI."

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Feedback, questions are welcome!

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Some caveats. Off-the-shelf AI agents can pass survey checks with human assistance and AI agents can be purpose-built to pass checks without human assistance. Detecting AI agents is a moving target: ongoing independent testing of survey platforms is needed.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Using AI checks to screen out respondents is bad, helping AI learn to evade checks. Better to just collect data and pre-register exclusions (and move to a better platform when the fail rate is too high).

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Some thoughts. Relying on just one AI check is not a good idea – AI agents differ in their capabilities. Use multiple tests, varied regularly. Not checking against a human baseline may lead to over-estimating AI agents: AI and humans are bad at some of the same things.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

This can matter for survey results. Platforms with more AI failures estimated less disapproval of using AI to complete surveys. Excluding potential AI agents reduced those differences (vs. humans at Mindworks @CDR_Booth).

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

The results differ substantially across platforms. @joinprolific.bsky.social and @cloudresearch.bsky.social ’s Connect panel have relatively low failure rates, while Mturk (even via @cloudresearch.bsky.social) has a high failure rate.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

We use five AI checks, validating that common AI agents fail our checks but in-person human respondents do not. We then collect data on 7 online platforms.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

osf.io

OSF

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 13/02/2026

“I've said to a couple of my colleagues, like, man, what would it have looked like in 2024 when we're in the thick of the campaigns, if we stopped being so defensive on immigration and we went on the offensive; had we all collectively rang the alarm when we saw it start.”

thehandbasket.co

"The day of accountability will come": Rep. Delia Ramirez on abolishing and prosecuting DHS

The Handbasket spoke with the congresswoman who called out ICE long before it was popular.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Malte Elson @malte.the100.ci · 13/02/2026

From this follow simple recommendations: as a default, meta-scientific studies of published research artefacts need to include 1) a full, identifiable list of included studies, 2) the full coding instrument and decision rules, and 3) the individual ratings together with a codebook.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Our instinct to seek confirmation leads to ‘narrow’ internet search behaviour. Chatbots, trained to be helpful, tend to go along with this, but could be trained to help us update our beliefs. @olegurminsky.bsky.social researched this and explains what he found: buff.ly/0eafZ78

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Chicago Booth Review @chicagoboothreview.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

"It's a general issue in lots of technology that the technology is designed to try to be helpful to us and around our needs, but often it takes a simple view of what those needs are and leaves out some of the needs." - @olegurminsky.bsky.social www.chicagobooth.edu/review/podca...

chicagobooth.edu

Should AI Disagree with You?

Research suggests we shape our online queries in a way that confirms our views.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

𝔅𝔲𝔱𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔒'𝔊𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔦𝔥𝔞𝔫 @johnxuandou.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Eric Geller @ericjgeller.com · 27/10/2025

"ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds." www.wired.com/story/chatbo...

wired.com

Chatbots Are Pushing Sanctioned Russian Propaganda

ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Daniel Abraham @abraham.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

If I were running the DNC, there would be Democratic Party sponsored food relief banks across the country right now that specifically welcomed anyone regardless of party affiliation. Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

sjdm-tweets @sjdm-tweets.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Today's HotFresh recommended paper is: Pleskac, T. J., Kyung, E. J., Chapman, G. B., & Urminsky, O. (2025). Blinded versus Unblinded Review: A Field Study on the Equity of Peer-Review Processes. Management Science. doi.org/10.1287/mnsc...

doi.org

Blinded versus Unblinded Review: A Field Study on the Equity of Peer-Review Processes | Management Science

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

eileen chengyin chow @chowleen.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy. www.chosun.com/english/nati...

chosun.com

National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders

National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders Honored for rejecting illegal orders during martial law, Marine death probe

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

We must stand resolutely against political assassination and political violence of all kinds, and just as resolutely against everyone who exploits acts of violence as the pretext or excuse for political repression of political opponents.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Andrea Matranga @andreamatranga.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Italy is doing something interesting with it's admission to medical school. Anybody with a high school diploma can enrol for the first semester (actually two months of intensive all day coursework). They take three course: Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Mostly taught remotely.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), top Dem on the Senate health committee, on this evening's chaos at CDC: “We cannot let RFK Jr. burn what’s left of the CDC and our other critical health agencies to the ground—he must be fired."

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Ruby Sales, who Daniels saved, went on to get degrees at Tuskegee Institute, Manhattanville College, and Princeton University. She's still alive Daniels' murderer, who killed Daniels and wounded another activist (a Catholic priest), was never convicted and died peacefully in his late 80s

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

But also today, next door, Russian tanks & bombs kill Ukrainians under the cynical guise of "de-nazification" to stop them turning West. Slovakia's government is again a pawn of Russian totalitarianism, cloaked in new ideology, but playing the same game of controlling & destroying people's lives.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

It's a meaningful vindication: nearly a lifetime later, art, individual freedom and democracy are triumphant over totalitarianism.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

That movie, which my father acted in and helped write, was chosen as the best Slovak film of the century three years ago, and today was shown in the central plaza in Bratislava to commemorate the anniversary of the invasion.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

A movie, called 322, was being filmed at the time in Bratislava, about the absurdity of the lives everyday people were subjected to at the time. It wasn't about Communism, but just the fact that it held up a mirror to an unfree society was enough for it to be banned.

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

A story: 57 years ago, the Soviet Union invaded then Czechoslovakia, to stop the modest liberalization and increased tolerance for western perspectives that had been occuring. The invading soldiers were told that the country needed to be saved from Nazis who had taken over.

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Reposted by Oleg Urminsky

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Now THIS is field work

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