Extracts:
Although prior research has often found that conservatives tend to be skeptical of new technologies, these findings reveal a more complex pattern: when AI recommendations appear to reflect a person’s own previous choices, conservatives are more inclined to follow them—driven by a broader preference for consistency and resistance to change.
Across a series of controlled online experiments, participants were asked to imagine or respond to AI-generated recommendations for movies, music, or recipes. In some cases, they were told the recommendation was based on their own past preferences. In others, this detail was omitted or changed—such as when the recommendation was intentionally described as novel or different from what the user usually consumed.
Participants also rated their political ideology on a scale from liberal to conservative. The researchers then analyzed how likely each group was to accept or follow the AI-generated suggestion.
In contrast to the widespread assumption that conservatives are more skeptical of new technologies, the studies consistently found that conservatives were more likely than liberals to accept AI-generated recommendations—but only under specific conditions.
The effect was strongest when participants believed that the AI recommendation was based on their own past behavior, such as previous music choices or favorite movie genres.
The findings shed light on an important psychological factor influencing AI adoption, but they do not suggest that conservatives are universally more enthusiastic about AI. The studies focused on low-stakes, everyday consumption contexts, where familiarity and consistency are appealing. Other research has shown that in high-stakes settings—such as medical decisions or autonomous vehicles—conservatives may remain more cautious or skeptical toward AI.
I think a big part of this is probably related to religion and the conservative mindset about traditional families. In other words, authoritarianism.
Religions teach followers blind obedience. Even if a person tries to reason for themselves, they are required to change their minds if their conclusions don't match what their religious leaders tell them to believe.
Similarly, the traditional family that conservatives espouse is one where the children's primary trait is obedience.
All of this authoritarianism training is going to make people more vulnerable to AI flummery. AI is very good at sounding confident and convincing. And because conservative children have been stripped of their natural human ability to reason for themselves, all they have left in their toolbox to determine the validity of written words are how confident the writer sounds.