arXiv subjects

Chenchen Mao

Publications and source records attributed to Chenchen Mao.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

How Far Do Capability Cues Travel? Anthropomorphism and Differentiated Trust in a Platform-Embedded AI Assistant

Visible AI capabilities need not translate into broader judgments of trustworthiness. In a randomized 2 x 2 experiment with 270 U.S.-based Reddit users, an embedded assistant displayed one or three functions, with or without a brief rationale. Displaying three functions increased perceived multifunctionality; no other randomized main effect survived correction across the six outcomes. Rationale availability did not reliably increase perceived intelligence. Exploratory analysis indicated stronger uptake of the functional display at higher objective AI literacy. Among concurrently measured judgments, perceived multifunctionality was associated with perceived intelligence, which was associated with anthropomorphism and all three trust dimensions. After accounting for perceived intelligence, anthropomorphism was positively associated with benevolence, but not reliably with integrity or ability. These findings separate interface effects from relationships among users' perceptions and show why ability, integrity, and benevolence should be evaluated separately.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2026

When Readability and Source Retention Diverge: An Evaluability Gap in AI Translation

Readable AI output can leave an evaluability gap: even when the source is shown, an overall-quality judgment may not reflect what an output preserves. We investigated how source-text condition and output rendering relate to perceived translation quality, and how output and system appraisals relate to trust and stated disclosure willingness in a plain-text interface. A focal 2 * 2 comparison (N=306) using TransLingo examined simple generated narratives and complex literary-philosophical prose alongside LLM-generated readability-oriented outputs and researcher-revised fidelity-oriented outputs. A descriptive stimulus audit indicated greater source retention in fidelity-oriented outputs in both source-text conditions. Factorial analyses showed a significant rendering-by-source-text-condition interaction in perceived quality. Participants rated fidelity-oriented outputs higher than readability-oriented outputs for the simple narratives, whereas no reliable rendering difference emerged for the complex prose. A corresponding source-condition-dependent pattern was observed for perceived intelligence, agency-oriented anthropomorphic attribution, and task-performance trust. A separate theory-ordered appraisal-structure SEM characterized concurrent associations among perceived quality, perceived intelligence, agency-oriented anthropomorphic attribution, task-performance trust, and stated disclosure willingness across six domains, with task-performance trust as the proximal correlate of stated willingness. The observed rating pattern distinguishes source access from source evaluability: for the complex stimuli, displaying the source did not ensure that one overall-quality rating reflected differences in retained content. It also separates support for evaluating translation output from data-handling support for decisions about what personal text to entrust to a system.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2026

Outer Limits: An Experimental Approach to Controlled Content Manipulation within the Reddit Interface

Independent researchers often lack access to intervention capabilities for controlled experiments on live social media platforms. We present Outer Limits, a browser-based system for controlled content experiments within the existing Old Reddit interface, rather than in a reconstructed simulation. The system renders content locally, records study events, and contains configured voting and commenting actions so that neither constructed content nor experimental write interactions reach Reddit. In a 219-participant perceptual-fidelity study, ART ANOVAs found no significant Post Type, Participant Awareness, or interaction effects. Exploratory TOSTs met the d = plus-minus 0.50 equivalence criterion for the marginal contrasts and for Post Type within the forewarned subgroup. We also illustrate the system with a factorial study varying post frame, comment frame, and comment stance. Outer Limits combines three properties that the approaches considered here provide separately: precise control over experimental content, an existing platform interface, and containment of experimental content and interactions from the host community.

cs.HC↗