Researchers tested widely available generative AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude and LLaMa to see whether they can act as general judges of personality by reading ordinary language. The team used short daily video diaries and longer recordings from more than 160 people collected in both real-life and laboratory settings. Older text-analysis approaches did not perform nearly as well as these newer AI systems.
Results showed that AI personality scores closely matched how participants rated themselves and often matched self-ratings better than ratings from friends or family. The AI ratings also predicted meaningful outcomes: daily emotions, stress levels, social behaviour, and whether a person had been diagnosed with a mental health condition or had sought treatment. "We were taken aback by just how strong these associations were, given how different these two data sources are," says Aidan Wright, the study's first author.
Other scholars noted the implications. Chandra Sripada said the work supports the idea that language carries deep clues about psychological traits. Colin Vize described it as a new frontier in understanding human psychology, and Whitney Ringwald pointed out how personality appears in everyday experiences and passing thoughts.
- Study limits: it relied on self-ratings and did not test direct comparisons with friends' or family judgments.
- Researchers do not yet know whether AI and humans use the same signals or whether AI could outperform self-reports for major life outcomes like relationships, education, health or career success.
- The findings appear in Nature Human Behavior; source: University of Michigan.
Difficult words
- generative — able to create new content or data
- personality — set of consistent psychological traits
- diary — personal record of daily experiences or eventsvideo diaries
- self-rating — person's own assessment of their traitsself-ratings
- predict — say something will happen based on evidencepredicted
- association — connection or relationship between two thingsassociations
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How could AI personality assessments change the way people seek or receive mental health support? Give reasons.
- Do you think everyday language gives enough information to judge personality accurately? Why or why not?
- What ethical concerns might arise from using AI to assess people's personality from their language?
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