Social friction vs. cognitive efficiency: A comparative analysis of help-seeking behaviors in human communities and generative AI

Li Qi, Lanlan Zhao · 2026

Read Social friction vs. cognitive efficiency: A comparative analysis of help-seeking behaviors in human communities and generative AI by Li Qi, Lanlan Zhao (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/plos-pone-0348441.txt.

Description

Li Qi and Lanlan Zhao asked how folk seek help from a bot, set next to help from peers. They mined thirty thousand turns of talk from two stores. One held chats with AI. One held posts from a big help board. Word tools then scored each line for soft words, hedges, and tone.

With the bot, the soft shell fell away. Hedges and please-and-thanks near died out. Nor did folk beg as meek guests. They spoke like a boss who gives clear tasks. The team says bots cut the social cost of the ask. The flip side is less drill in the hard art of state a vague need well.

Catalog record

CREATORLi Qi, Lanlan Zhao
YEAR2026
COLLECTIONPAPERS
FORMATTXT
FILE SIZE67406
LICENSECC_BY
RIGHTSCC BY
SOURCEPLOS

Source: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0348441

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