ISSEP-2025-04

GRANT ID#: ISSEP-2025-04

GRANT TITLE: Less “Awe”-some Art: How AI Undermines the Empathic and Prosocial Power of the Arts

GRANTEE: Columbia Business School

PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR: Michale White

GRANT AMOUNT: USD $2,413.32

DURATION OF GRANT PROJECT: April 15, 2025 – February 31, 2026

Description of the Project

 

Executive summary:

From ancient cave paintings to contemporary symphonies, the arts have been integral to human life, offering myriad psychosocial benefits. However, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly involved in creating art. To what extent does AI-generated art provide the psychosocial benefits typically offered by art? In this research, we examine whether AI-generated art inspires less awe and, consequently, fosters less empathy for others, compared to human generated art. In this study, a physical painting will be placed in an art gallery in New York City. At regular intervals, a random generator will be used to determine whether the accompanying plaque will describe the paining as AI-generated or human-generated, visitors will read the plaque and view the artwork, and complete a short survey about their reactions to the painting—including measures of state awe, empathy, and given an opportunity for charitable giving. This work will improve our understanding of the existential psychosocial impacts of AI- and human-generated art and explore the impact of AI in creative industries.

 

Itemized budget:

Grant funding will cover the expenses detailed below:

Participant Payments - $2,200.

  • Calculation: Our power analysis suggests we will need to 398 complete responses to achieve 80% power in detecting a small effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.25). Given that we will need to exclude participants that fail our attention check (“Who created the painting you viewed?”), we propose recruiting an additional 42 participants, resulting in a total N to 440 participants. 440 participants x $5/participant = $2,200.

Data Collection Expenses – $213.32.

  • Travel to Gallery for Research Assistant (RA). Calculation: The RA will travel to and from the art gallery via the NYC MTA which charges $2.90 / trip. For four shifts, the RA will need to travel 8 times. 8 trips x $2.90/trip = $23.20.

  • Professional Printing of Painting. Quote from CanvasChamp for Museum Quality 36” x 36” = $190.12

The total amount approved is USD $2,413.32.

Kenneth Vail