logo
AI might now be as good as humans at detecting emotion, political leaning, sarcasm in online conversations

AI might now be as good as humans at detecting emotion, political leaning, sarcasm in online conversations

Time of India12 hours ago
When we write something to another person, over email or perhaps on social media, we may not state things directly, but our words may instead convey a latent meaning - an underlying subtext. We also often hope that this meaning will come through to the reader.But what happens if an artificial intelligence (AI) system is at the other end, rather than a person? Can AI, especially conversational AI, understand the latent meaning in our text? And if so, what does this mean for us?
Latent content analysis
is an area of study concerned with uncovering the deeper meanings, sentiments and subtleties embedded in text. For example, this type of analysis can help us grasp political leanings present in communications that are perhaps not obvious to everyone.
Understanding how intense someone's emotions are or whether they're being sarcastic can be crucial in supporting a person's mental health, improving customer service, and even keeping people safe at a national level.
These are only some examples. We can imagine benefits in other areas of life, like social science research, policy-making and business. Given how important these tasks are - and how quickly conversational AI is improving - it's essential to explore what these technologies can (and can't) do in this regard.
Work on this issue is only just starting. Current work shows that ChatGPT has had limited success in detecting political leanings on news websites. Another study that focused on differences in sarcasm detection between different large language models - the technology behind AI chatbots such as ChatGPT - showed that some are better than others.
Finally, a study showed that LLMs can guess the emotional "valence" of words - the inherent positive or negative "feeling" associated with them. Our new study published in Scientific Reports tested whether conversational AI, inclusive of GPT-4 - a relatively recent version of ChatGPT - can read between the lines of human-written texts.
The goal was to find out how well LLMs simulate understanding of sentiment, political leaning, emotional intensity and sarcasm - thus encompassing multiple latent meanings in one study. This study evaluated the reliability, consistency and quality of seven LLMs, including GPT-4, Gemini, Llama-3.1-70B and Mixtral 8 x 7B.
We found that these LLMs are about as good as humans at analysing sentiment, political leaning, emotional intensity and sarcasm detection. The study involved 33 human subjects and assessed 100 curated items of text.
For spotting political leanings, GPT-4 was more consistent than humans. That matters in fields like journalism, political science, or public health, where inconsistent judgement can skew findings or miss patterns.
GPT-4 also proved capable of picking up on emotional intensity and especially valence. Whether a tweet was composed by someone who was mildly annoyed or deeply outraged, the AI could tell - although, someone still had to confirm if the AI was correct in its assessment. This was because AI tends to downplay emotions. Sarcasm remained a stumbling block both for humans and machines.
The study found no clear winner there - hence, using human raters doesn't help much with sarcasm detection.
Why does this matter? For one, AI like GPT-4 could dramatically cut the time and cost of analysing large volumes of online content. Social scientists often spend months analysing user-generated text to detect trends. GPT-4, on the other hand, opens the door to faster, more responsive research - especially important during crises, elections or public health emergencies.
Journalists and fact-checkers might also benefit. Tools powered by GPT-4 could help flag emotionally charged or politically slanted posts in real time, giving newsrooms a head start.
There are still concerns. Transparency, fairness and political leanings in AI remain issues. However, studies like this one suggest that when it comes to understanding language, machines are catching up to us fast - and may soon be valuable teammates rather than mere tools.
Although this work doesn't claim conversational AI can replace human raters completely, it does challenge the idea that machines are hopeless at detecting nuance.
Our study's findings do raise follow-up questions. If a user asks the same question of AI in multiple ways - perhaps by subtly rewording prompts, changing the order of information, or tweaking the amount of context provided - will the model's underlying judgements and ratings remain consistent?
Further research should include a systematic and rigorous analysis of how stable the models' outputs are. Ultimately, understanding and improving consistency is essential for deploying LLMs at scale, especially in high-stakes settings.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Shubhanshu Shukla has a phone call with the ISRO chief while in outer space, updates him on Axiom-4's scientific experiments
Shubhanshu Shukla has a phone call with the ISRO chief while in outer space, updates him on Axiom-4's scientific experiments

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

Shubhanshu Shukla has a phone call with the ISRO chief while in outer space, updates him on Axiom-4's scientific experiments

Shubhanshu Shukla, the second Indian astronaut to go on a mission to outer space as part of Axiom-4, gave an update to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman V Narayanan on Sunday, July 6. In a phone call with the ISRO chief, which was first reported on by the Press Trust of India (PTI), Shubhanshu expressed his gratitude for the efforts of ISRO in ensuring Axiom-4's success, while also updating him on the particulars of how the mission was progressing. Shubhanshu Shukla's work with Axiom-4 includes scientific studies on bone health and radiation exposure. During the call, ISRO chairman Narayanan expressed his eagerness to discuss the Axiom-4 mission after Shubhanshu's return to Earth, as it would help with developing India's own Ganganyaan program. Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 mission is conducting experiments Private Astronaut Missions are redefining access to space for the larger global community. We are at the forefront of the commercial space revolution, presenting unparalleled opportunities for countries like India to #ExperienceSpace. #Ax4 — Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) June 28, 2025 Axiom-4 is taking advantage of its time in outer space to conduct missions studying bone health and radiation exposure. The bone health studies involve analyzing how bones change their behavior under microgravity conditions. This analysis could go on to further research into combating osteoporosis, among other bone diseases. The radiation exposure studies, on the other hand, are geared towards improving the safety conditions at the International Space Station (ISS), allowing for longer-term space missions to be safely planned out and executed. Aside from Shubhanshu, the Axiom-4 mission crew also includes Poland's Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, Hungary's Tibor Kapu, and the United States's Peggy Whitson. To Peggy, Shux, Sławosz, and Tibor, here are some loving words to commemorate this historic moment. #Ax4 — Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) June 25, 2025 Shubhanshu's own callsign is 'Shux', which is reflected in some of the updates given by Axiom Space about the mission's experiments, such as one about micro-algae, which said: "Shux deployed samples for the Space Micro Algae investigation. These tiny organisms might one day help sustain life in space, providing food, fuel, and even breathable air. But first, we need to understand how they grow and adapt in microgravity." ISRO plans to leverage Axiom-4 findings for the Ganganyaan program First Indian Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla was received in the International Space Station on June 26, 2025. Today is the historical day when he had interaction with Hon'ble PM of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji. This interaction of Prime Minister inspires and motivates 140 crore… — ISRO (@isro) June 28, 2025 Upon Shubhanshu Shukla's return to the Earth, ISRO will leverage his experiences on the Axiom-4 mission to further India's Ganganyaan program. This program is intended to demonstrate India's own capacity to launch manned spaceflight missions into low orbit above the Earth, so it will have a lot to learn from Axiom Space's missions.

TechKnow: Perfect prompt
TechKnow: Perfect prompt

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

TechKnow: Perfect prompt

If you're using ChatGPT but getting mediocre results, don't blame the chatbot. Instead, try sharpening up your AI chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude have become hugely popular and embedded into daily life for many users. They're powerful tools that can help us with so many different you shouldn't overlook, however, is that a chatbot's output depends on what you tell it to do, and how. There's a lot you can do to improve the prompt — also known as the request or query — that you type are some tips for general users on how to get higher quality chatbot replies, based on tips from the AI model makers:ChatGPT can't read your mind. You need to give it clear and explicit instructions on what you need it to a standard Google search, you can't just ask for an answer based on some keywords. And you'll need to do more than just tell it to, say, 'design a logo' because you'll end up with a generic design. Flesh it out with details on the company that the logo is for, the industry it will be used in and the design style you're going for.'Ensure your prompts are clear, specific, and provide enough context for the model to understand what you are asking,' ChatGPT maker OpenAI advises on its help page.'Avoid ambiguity and be as precise as possible to get accurate and relevant responses.'Think of using a chatbot like holding a conversation with a friend. You probably wouldn't end your chat after the first answer. Ask follow-up questions or refine your original advice: 'Adjust the wording, add more context, or simplify the request as needed to improve the results.'You might have to have an extended back-and-forth that elicits better output. Google advises that you'll need to try a 'few different approaches' if you don't get what you're looking for the first time.'Fine-tune your prompts if the results don't meet your expectations or if you believe there's room for improvement,' Google recommends in its prompting guide for Gemini.'Use follow-up prompts and an iterative process of review and refinement to yield better results.' When making your request, you can also ask an AI large language model to respond in a specific voice or style.'Words like formal, informal, friendly, professional, humorous, or serious can help guide the model,' OpenAI also tell the chatbot the type of person the response is aimed at. These parameters will help determine the chatbot's overall approach to its answer, as well as the tone, vocabulary and level of detail. For example, you could ask ChatGPT to describe quantum physics in the style of a distinguished professor talking to a class of graduate students. Or you could ask it to explain the same topic in the voice of a teacher talking to a group of there's plenty of debate among AI experts about these methods. On one hand, they can make answers more precise and less generic. But an output that adopts an overly empathetic or authoritative tone raises concerns about the text sounding too the chatbot all the background behind the reason for your just ask: 'Help me plan a weeklong trip to London.'ChatGPT will respond with a generic list of London's greatest hits: historic sites on one day, museums and famous parks on another, trendy neighborhoods and optional excursions to Windsor Castle. It's nothing you couldn't get from a guidebook or travel website, but just a little better if, say, you're a theatre-loving family, try this: 'Help me plan a weeklong trip to London in July, for a family of four. We don't want too many historic sites, but want to see a lot of West End theatre shows. We don't drink alcohol so we can skip pubs. Can you recommend mid-range budget hotels where we can stay and cheap places to eat for dinner?' This prompt returns a more tailored and detailed answer: a list of four possible hotels within walking distance of the theater district, a seven-day itinerary with cheap or low-cost ideas for things to do during the day, suggested shows each evening, and places for an affordable family can tell any of the chatbots just how extensive you want the answer to be. Sometimes, less is nudging the model to provide clear and succinct responses by imposing a limit. For example, tell the chatbot to reply with only 300 words, or to come up with five bullet to know all that there is to know about quantum physics? ChatGPT will provide a high-level 'grand tour' of the topic that includes terms like wavefunctions and ask for a 150-word explanation and you'll get an easily digestible summary about how it's the science of the tiniest particles that also underpins a lot of modern technology like lasers and smartphones.'

Watch the skies, Shux is passing by
Watch the skies, Shux is passing by

New Indian Express

time3 hours ago

  • New Indian Express

Watch the skies, Shux is passing by

BENGALURU: Be alert, look up at the clear sky and track the live movement of the International Space Station (ISS). This has become the latest trend among many stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts, especially after India's first astronaut, Group Captain and mission pilot of Axiom-4 Shubhanshu Shukla, boarded the ISS. Ever since Shukla docked into the ISS on June 26, there has been heightened excitement among astronomy enthusiasts and scientists. It has now caught the attention of citizens who are keen to watch and track the movement of the ISS overhead. There was a lot of enthusiasm among Bengalureans and people across South India on July 5, for the ISS was clearly visible over the horizon and many even videographed it. "It was like a bright moving star slowly passing by," they said. The same was seen on Monday, when the ISS crossed the Indian Ocean around 7.07-7.10pm and Bengalureans were able to see it with the naked eye in the southern direction at a 15-degree elevation. Experts from ISRO and Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium said the enthusiasm among citizens to see and track ISS has increased. There are many mobile applications that can be downloaded through Play Store on mobile phones to track the ISS' live location.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store