arXiv subjects

Ruomeng Cui

Publications and source records attributed to Ruomeng Cui.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Impact of AI Search on the Online Content Ecosystem: Evidence from Google and Reddit

Search engines traditionally complement online content platforms by directing users seeking information to external websites. The emergence of generative AI search tools that summarize answers directly on the results page may disrupt this relationship by making visits to source platforms optional. We study this question using Google AI Overviews and Reddit, one of the largest online discussion platforms. Our identification exploits Google's content moderation policy: Safe-for-Work (SFW) Reddit communities are indexed by Google organic search and surfaced in Google AI Overviews, while Not-Safe-for-Work (NSFW) communities, though indexed by organic search, are prohibited from being referenced in AI Overview summaries. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that AI Overviews increase engagement in SFW communities: daily comments rise by 12.0 percent and the number of commenting users by 12.4 percent relative to NSFW communities. The effects are concentrated in experience-based discussions (opinions, advice, and personal experiences) rather than fact-based information. However, the subsequent introduction of Google AI Mode, which allows users to interact conversationally with the AI summary, largely eliminates these gains in experience-based content. These results suggest that the effects of AI search depend critically on interface design and types of content.

cs.IR↗

arXiv2020

Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We study the disproportionate impact of the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak on female and male academics' research productivity in social science. The lockdown has caused substantial disruptions to academic activities, requiring people to work from home. How this disruption affects productivity and the related gender equity is an important operations and societal question. We collect data from the largest open-access preprint repository for social science on 41,858 research preprints in 18 disciplines produced by 76,832 authors across 25 countries over a span of two years. We use a difference-in-differences approach leveraging the exogenous pandemic shock. Our results indicate that, in the 10 weeks after the lockdown in the United States, although the total research productivity increased by 35%, female academics' productivity dropped by 13.9% relative to that of male academics. We also show that several disciplines drive such gender inequality. Finally, we find that this intensified productivity gap is more pronounced for academics in top-ranked universities, and the effect exists in six other countries. Our work points out the fairness issue in productivity caused by the lockdown, a finding that universities will find helpful when evaluating faculty productivity. It also helps organizations realize the potential unintended consequences that can arise from telecommuting.

cs.DL↗