How online studies must increase their defences against AI

Communications Psychology 2026 Open access

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Authors: Gerrit Anders, Jürgen Buder, Frank Papenmeier, Markus Huff
DOI: 10.1038/s44271-025-00388-2
Cited by: 3
References: 10

Abstract

LLM agents can now pass as human participants, threatening the validity of online social science. We urge a shift from ad-hoc checks to multi-layered, adaptive defenses, borrowing from internet anti-bot practice, and call for cooperation across researchers, platforms, and institutions, to guard against this challenge. LLM agents can now pass as human participants, threatening the validity of online social science. We urge a shift from ad-hoc checks to multi-layered, adaptive defenses, borrowing from internet anti-bot practice, and call for cooperation across researchers, platforms, and institutions, to guard against this challenge.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Computational and Text Analysis Methods Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education Ethics and Social Impacts of AI

Publication details

Journal / source
Communications Psychology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
4
Issue
1
Pages
20–20
Publication date
7 January 2026
Language
EN