The booming growth of AI chatbots is similar to the trajectory of how social media radically changed our everyday lives, except with supercharged adoption rates and expectations. Some key lessons we are still learning from social media’s rise offer insight on how to avoid the same mistakes with AI.

Social scientists across Letters and Science are studying AI to answer questions about people and society and to develop technologies that may drive our future. This work touches nearly every part of daily life, from health to education to the way we communicate with each other. Their work shows that at this point in history, AI and human society are inextricably intertwined.

UC Davis experts Martin Hilbert and Marit MacArthur from the UC Davis College of Letters and Science answer important questions about advancements in artificial intelligence at a recent Team Research Forum.