Research Study: Fandom and Generative AI

This study is currently closed! Thank you to everyone who participated!!!

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

About the study/me/the blog!

Hello Tumblr! I set up this blog to recruit participants for my doctoral dissertation research project. The link to the survey is in the bio of the blog, but here’s some more information!

[THIS STUDY IS CURRENTLY CLOSED. RESULTS WILL LIKELY BE PUBLISHED LATE 2025. Will update the blog once results are available!! If you entered into the prize drawing, winners will be contacted in March/April of 2025.]

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Hello!

Some of you may remember this research study from 2024, and thank you again to those who participated! I'm pleased to report that after a delay in my research timeline, my dissertation has been officially accepted for publication by my university. Over the next couple of months, I'll be working on a high-level "highlight reel" of the results to share (with at least those who indicated interest in being informed about the results on the study form; still working out the details of where it will live, how it will be shared, etc etc.)

Stay tuned for details! (This might be delayed as I am currently in the process of moving/transitioning into a new job)

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Hi, I came across the post about this study, and I was wondering if there were any results available. I would be interested. Maybe you could add a line to your pinned post about where or when to look for it? In any case, was an interesting experience, and thank you for your work on this topic!

hi!!!!! Haven’t logged into this account in a while, I just saw this. The results aren’t available yet; the first write ups have been tied up in the peer review process for a while, so i’m not sure when they’ll be published, and the full dissertation will be available later in 2025 (hopefully in May, but that depends on the job market, so it might potentially be later this year). But I’m hopeful that an article or two will get published prior to that! Will definitely update when the results are published.

(academia moves pretty slowly, and I've got a lot of data, so it's been a long process of working with it all and putting it into bite size article chunks (and then braving the publication process...))

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Hi everyone, just an FYI: the study will be closing Next Wednesday, May 15th!!!

Huge thank you to everyone who's already participated, and if you still want to weigh in in an academic study regarding generative AI and fandom, you can view the call for participants here.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

study is closing tomorrow!!!!!!!

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Hi everyone, just an FYI: the study will be closing Next Wednesday, May 15th!!!

Huge thank you to everyone who's already participated, and if you still want to weigh in in an academic study regarding generative AI and fandom, you can view the call for participants here.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Research Study: Fandom & Generative AI still looking for participants!

I'm still recruiting research participants for my PhD dissertation study!!! If you've already participated, thanks so much! If you haven't participated yet, please consider responding to a quick survey, and sharing with your friends!

I'm interested in understanding fans' perspectives on and experiences with generative AI (text and image generation software). That means perceptions both positive and negative! However you feel about genAI, I'm interested in hearing from you. We're especially seeking diverse perspectives from underrepresented demographic groups of people.

If you're over 18, can speak/understand English, and are interested in participating you can learn more information and take the survey here. I've also made a FAQ post about the study that I've pinned to the top of the blog, and you can see more info on the shareable flyer below. You can also view posts on Twitter/X, Bluesky, and Reddit about the study and share info there! Spreading the word is greatly appreciated :)

The study is anonymous and voluntary, and you'll be asked about your fandom background, attitudes towards generative AI, and demographic information. The survey should take about 15-20 minutes, and you can skip over any questions you want. You can also elect to participate in a follow up interview, if you want to. The full details are on the consent form, which you'll be able to read before taking the survey! Feel free to reach out with any questions.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Just wanted to say that you can now find the study on Instagram and Dreamwidth!!! Feel free to interact with the posts over there; and keep spreading the word to any interested parties you like!

[the-stars-our-destination]

There are currently ~2300 works in AO3 tagged with "Created Using Generative AI"

Would you read AI fanfiction?

Yes

No

Voting ended onApr 28, 2024

I'll be upfront with my opinion, which mirrors my opinion in regards to my field: using AI will only hasten your own obsolescence. The point of fanfiction is not to crank out fics, but rather to enjoy the hobby and communities of writing and fandom.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

For the folks taking this poll, might I recommend participating in an academic study on this very topic??? :)

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Hi! I wanted to ask how long the survey was going to be open for? I really wanted to participate in it but there are still three months till i turn 18

it'll be open until mid-May, so it'll be closed before you can participate unfortunately, sorry!

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Just wanted to say, thank you so much for taking on this project. It's actually really refreshing for someone to go out of their way to really ask others what they think and then actually listen to and consider those opinions when it comes to new technologies. (Instead of the corporate approach of just shoving it onto people and forcing them to get used to it)

Oh, thank you! I mean, that's what academia is supposed to be for, isn't it? We're supposed to actually go out and collect the data for people to do something with it, and especially with an evolving cultural moment like this, the data is going to be important!

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

hey sorry i just wanted to send a little straight up apology- i did not think me entering in the survey that im not 18 would affect the data in any way- gonna delete the tags and reblog adition once have reblogs back. again so sorry for the inconvenience

oh! sorry, i think i may have misunderstood you; i meant that you shouldn't lie about your age and say that you're 18 to take the survey when you aren't, since THAT could get me into ethical trouble (i don't have ethics clearance to study minors, since there are additional approvals you need to get in that case). if you answer "no" to the question of "are you 18" it'll just skip you right to the end of the survey and those responses can be filtered out easily, so that's not a big deal.

My big concern is folks saying you're 18 when you aren't, *that's* the thing you shouldn't do, as it will screw up the data. But i appreciate you deleting the tags! that way it won't encourage folks to potentially do that :)

[fanhackers]

Fans' attitudes toward AI-generated works

Irina Cisternino, a PhD candidate of Stony Brooke University, is writing their research on topics related to technology, art and fandom. You can participate by filling out a survey and additionally, signing up for an interview. The survey is expected to last until at least the end of April, those, who signed up for the interview, will be contacted later. You need to be at least 18 years old to participate in either, be able to understand and speak English and identify as a fan.

After the completion of the research, it will be accessible as the dissertation of the researcher. If you have further questions, you can contact Irina Cisternino at [email protected] or Lu-Ann Kozlowsky at [email protected].

[teaboot]

They're also raffling off seven $50 in Amazon gift cards for participation, if that's a good motivator for anyone

[megaraye]

This is rad and a well developed survey.

[the-pen-pot]

This was brilliant. I got to let off a bit of steam about how shitty AI is in general and how SUPER shitty it is to find it in fandom spaces.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

I can’t stress this enough, please do not participate in the study if you are under 18. This is a legal/ethical restriction, I cannot collect data on minors, and this also distorts the data in ways that are counterproductive to good, accurate research. (if you answer "no" to the are you 18 question, it will just skip you to the end of the survey, so that isn't a big deal, but please, please do not lie about your age in order to participate.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

is the interview a video call like on zoom or over email

on Zoom!

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

are you worried about/accounting for bias produced by tumblr's content propagation system?

Hi! to be honest, my bigger concern at this stage is dealing with bad/fraudulent data (I have a multi-step cleaning process & validation checks that will hopefully weed that out, but fraudulent data has become the more salient problem in online survey research than things like sample bias lately) rather than sample bias.

for one thing, I didn't really plan for the study to go somewhat viral on tumblr, and even though I've advertised the study in other spaces (1, 2, 3, 4) and planning to push it in some additional places & encouraging folks to share it in their fandom spaces that *aren't* tumblr, tumblr is really the only platform where it's gotten traction, and there's only so much that's within my control. OTW also pushed out the study on twitter, but it hasn't gotten nearly the same attention there. they've tentatively agreed to put it in their Signal newsletter, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen yet.

all I can really do at this point is try to compensate as best I can. Social media recruitment is unwieldy and difficult to manage, but my goal from the beginning was to cast as wide a net as possible and subsequently to be very careful about the claims made based on a nonrepresentative sample (which is best practices anyway when dealing with a mixture of purposive and convenience sampling). My plan is for right now is to just try and get it to some other spaces outside of tumblr and encourage folks to do the same. but i'm also of the opinion that if my intent is to target fans/folks within digital fandom communities, tumblr is a good place to find those people.

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Finished your study - best of luck!

One space I'd consider looking into for further discussion on this topic is Dwarf Fortress.

The game is an expansive world, randomized and unique to each player, which relies heavily on procedural generation. Despite the machine-generated and ephemeral nature of the game's stories - similar, one could argue, to AI-produced fiction - they are ultimately written by the players. You might find some interesting comparisons there which could serve as a counterpoint to anti-AI *and* techbro-AI-optimist sentiments. Check it out maybe!

oh, thanks! I hadn't heard of this before, but I'll look into it. If you know of specific spaces where fans/fan communities around that game tend to hang out, feel free to share the study there! those folks might have some interesting perspectives to share

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

can i just say... i was desperate to see someone in academia do something like this because all the talk i see in studies seem very disconnected from the actual discussions/concerns online, so thank you very much! looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.

P.S. i'd also be curious to see if the responses from a non-fandom crowd are different, and exactly where they differ.

hi! There's actually several academics working on these issues at the moment (I've connected with some other folks in the social sciences who are working on similar questions at the moment; in fact, another phd student in psychology is recruiting a broader range of queer artists for an interview study on GenAI right now, so go check that out if you like!).

There's also been some studies coming out of other fields too re: how people respond to works of art made by AI and by humans:

This report in Nature last year and this study from 2019 both come to mind off the top of my head, though I'm sure there's been some more recent work that's come out in the few months I haven't kept a close eye on it (AI art has been a thing well before Midjourney exploded, so folks have been studying this from even before that)

neither of these are in a fandom context but the work's definitely of interest to academia for sure.

update: forgot about this preprint released in january re: artists' attitudes towards AI https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.15497

[ai-fandom-researchstudy]

Hi! Just finished your study. I noted that you had initial ethics clearance for 500 participants, how far past that are you at the moment, and where do you think you'll get to? Hopefully a high volume of data doesn't make any problems for you - my partner is doing a PhD in a psych-related topic, and they're struggling to reach minimum sample size since it's a longitudinal in-person study. I would imagine that international internet participation on something that looks to be going semi-viral may well go the other direction? Good luck, very interested in seeing the outcomes!

well....

lol. i definitely didn't plan for it to go semi-viral! I expected it to get a *little* bit more attention once OTW pushed it out, but I really didn't think it would get this much traction (I had to log out of this tumblr for a couple days cuz I was getting a little too overwhelmed!)

I'm at several thousand respondents so far (thanks everyone!) and I have some concerns about data quality, but I'm hoping that a multi-step cleaning process will catch most of that. the study will be open until mid-May, so I'm hoping that it starts to gain some traction on platforms outside of tumblr to combat tumblr's absolutely massive response lol. In a dream world I wanted 1K participants, but.... the internet's doing it's thing I guess.

Thank you!

[fanhackers]

Help a Researcher

Leigh Ingram, a student at the University of Ottawa, in Canada, is completing a Master of Information Studies. The proposed research for their thesis is on information seeking behaviours in the fanfiction community, with a specific focus on how AO3 users search through the archive and use the embedded search functions on the website.

This study has received ethics approval for an anonymous online survey, followed by a few interviews. The survey will remain open for approximately 6-8 weeks depending on the volume of response. Following completion of the research, the intention is to share the anonymous data collected and potentially submit an article to Transformative Works and Cultures for consideration, so any findings will be shared with OTW/AO3. 

Survey takers must be 18 or older to take part. If you would like to learn more about the study you can review its consent form, which contains the researcher's contact information.