There's also a basic point about accessibility and international reach that is totally lost in critiques of online conferences.

Also, yes, empathy matters. Normalizing empathy, or cruelty, through policy may shape when and for whom citizens feel appropriate empathizing. Empathic choices lace together in support or separation, and don't exist in a vacuum. Empathy matters, science matters, and communicating that is vital.
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@spspnews.bsky.social @isreorg.bsky.social @affectscience.bsky.social @ispp-pops.bsky.social @psuliberalarts.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social @socphilpsych.bsky.social
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The article is open-access at the link, please share! The journal is associated with @fabbs.org and connects science to society and policymakers. I'm excited to see many of the other excellent social psychology articles that are coming out in this special issue, as well! 3/n

As a matter of motivated choice, we suggest our empathic decisions are interwoven with one another's. Ultimately we suggest this is a matter of applied moral psychology, considering how people navigate moral disagreements and the need to care for one other (or not) within a complex social world 2/n

@spspnews.bsky.social @affectscience.bsky.social @isreorg.bsky.social @socphilpsych.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social @psuliberalarts.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social @isjrorg.bsky.social
#empathy #ai #socialpsych #psychscisky #academicsky

And thanks to support from Cameron Hong & Shayna Leng, and editorial guidance from @publishingemily.bsky.social & Maya Tamir. Look for more about the volume this year, and we are thrilled to push these conversations forward. Stay tuned for events (such as an empathy-AI one at Penn State in May) 9/n

Michael Laakasuo, Kathryn Francis, Marianna Drosinou, Ivar Hannikainen, Gus Skorburg, Dylan White, @ethanlandes.bsky.social @jimaceverett.bsky.social @oldjerryfodor.bsky.social @ledaberio.bsky.social. 8/n

Alan Wagner, Colin Holbrook, @ilkayari.bsky.social @awykowska.bsky.social @petitegeek.bsky.social Ozge Nilay Yalcin, @mgreinecke.bsky.social Teresa Flanagan, Tamar Kushnir @mikayrodr.bsky.social @mattmotyl.bsky.social @julianaschroeder.bsky.social, Carlos Montemayor, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong 7/n

@paulbloomatyale.bsky.social Jamil Zaki @mshastry.bsky.social Sharlene Fernandes @kurtjgray.bsky.social @elianahadtime.bsky.social Tatiana Lau @desmond-ong.bsky.social Elena Lee, Dani Yin, Cheryl Wakslak @jdweng.bsky.social @minzlicht.bsky.social, Martina Orlandi, @lasanaharris.bsky.social 6/n

We couldn't have done this without amazing authors. Shai Satran, Will Kidder, Jason D'Cruz, @krvarshney.bsky.social, Sean Laurent, Sooyun Iris Chung, Ariel Goldstein, @gabistanovsky.bsky.social Austin Beattie, @andyhigh.bsky.social @mohammadatari.bsky.social @firatseker.bsky.social Aliah Zewail 5/n

We’ll announce more as it proceeds through the publication cycle. But as I tell my students, it’s important to celebrate key junctures in the publishing process. Bringing people together is one of the joys of doing science and scholarship, and we are excited for this book to make an impact 4/n

We think it’s one of the first truly interdisciplinary volumes on empathy & AI, and comes at an important social moment. It builds from a conference I held in 2024 through the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making at Penn State. It was such fun to work with Anat on this over the past couple years 3/n

This volume brings together psychologists, philosophers, engineers, computer scientists, and many others to evaluate risks and promise of AI — including LLMs and robots — for our moral lives. What does "empathy" mean when we converse with chatbots, & can it be a boon or a bane for moral growth? 2/n