AI and the Future of Politics: Reclaiming Control or Reliving the Past? Exposure to AI, Redistribution and Populist Attitudes

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) technology and attitudes towards populism and demand for redistribution. Theoretically, it is hypothesized that exposure to AI may result in individuals experiencing anxiety about their future status and, as a result, increasingly favor populist attitudes and are more likely to reject redistribution. To test this, a pre-registered online survey experiment was conducted, involving 752 participants who were split into three groups: those who had a free interaction with ChatGPT (199 participants), those who watched an informational video about GPT and generative AI (226 participants), and a control group (327 participants). I find evidence regarding populist attitudes which partly increase after being exposed to AI, but no effect on redistribution support. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis provides evidence concerning different characteristics such as personality, age, and occupational risk.