Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling
Abstract The paper proposes a framework that combines behavioral and computational experiments employing fictional prompts as a novel tool for investigating cultural artifacts and social biases in storytelling both by humans and generative AI. The study analyzes 250 stories authored by crowdworkers...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03868-8 |
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| _version_ | 1850180424536424448 |
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| author | Nina Beguš |
| author_facet | Nina Beguš |
| author_sort | Nina Beguš |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The paper proposes a framework that combines behavioral and computational experiments employing fictional prompts as a novel tool for investigating cultural artifacts and social biases in storytelling both by humans and generative AI. The study analyzes 250 stories authored by crowdworkers in June 2019 and 80 stories generated by GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 in March 2023 by merging methods from narratology and inferential statistics. Both crowdworkers and large language models responded to identical prompts about creating and falling in love with an artificial human. The proposed experimental paradigm allows a direct and controlled comparison between human and LLM-generated storytelling. Responses to the Pygmalionesque prompts confirm the pervasive presence of the Pygmalion myth in the collective imaginary of both humans and large language models. All solicited narratives present a scientific or technological pursuit. The analysis reveals that narratives from GPT-3.5 and particularly GPT-4 are more progressive in terms of gender roles and sexuality than those written by humans. While AI narratives with default settings and no additional prompting can occasionally provide innovative plot twists, they offer less imaginative scenarios and rhetoric than human-authored texts. The proposed framework argues that fiction can be used as a window into human and AI-based collective imaginary and social dimensions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8605132ab654a7cb09780723b0b5aa3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e8605132ab654a7cb09780723b0b5aa32025-08-20T02:18:11ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922024-10-0111112210.1057/s41599-024-03868-8Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytellingNina Beguš0University of CaliforniaAbstract The paper proposes a framework that combines behavioral and computational experiments employing fictional prompts as a novel tool for investigating cultural artifacts and social biases in storytelling both by humans and generative AI. The study analyzes 250 stories authored by crowdworkers in June 2019 and 80 stories generated by GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 in March 2023 by merging methods from narratology and inferential statistics. Both crowdworkers and large language models responded to identical prompts about creating and falling in love with an artificial human. The proposed experimental paradigm allows a direct and controlled comparison between human and LLM-generated storytelling. Responses to the Pygmalionesque prompts confirm the pervasive presence of the Pygmalion myth in the collective imaginary of both humans and large language models. All solicited narratives present a scientific or technological pursuit. The analysis reveals that narratives from GPT-3.5 and particularly GPT-4 are more progressive in terms of gender roles and sexuality than those written by humans. While AI narratives with default settings and no additional prompting can occasionally provide innovative plot twists, they offer less imaginative scenarios and rhetoric than human-authored texts. The proposed framework argues that fiction can be used as a window into human and AI-based collective imaginary and social dimensions.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03868-8 |
| spellingShingle | Nina Beguš Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling |
| title_full | Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling |
| title_fullStr | Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling |
| title_short | Experimental narratives: A comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and AI storytelling |
| title_sort | experimental narratives a comparison of human crowdsourced storytelling and ai storytelling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03868-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ninabegus experimentalnarrativesacomparisonofhumancrowdsourcedstorytellingandaistorytelling |