Robert Epstein

Robert Epstein is a senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology and former editor in chief of Psychology Today. Epstein has published 15 books and over 250 popular science articles on topics such as artificial intelligence, creativity, and stress management. In 2015, he published a report titled \Search Engine Manipulation Effect SEME and Its Possible Impact on Elections\ in PNAS, a journal of the National Academy of Sciences. The report was downloaded over 100000 times on the journal's website. The search engine manipulation effect SEME is one of the largest behavioral effects discovered so far, which is less noticeable and therefore more dangerous. Epstein's research shows that the SEME effect currently determines more than 25% of national election results worldwide. In addition, he also found that this effect not only affects people's voting tendencies, but also has an impact on many factors such as attitudes, viewpoints, beliefs, and behaviors. Epstein also tested SEME's operant conditioning theory, which showed that daily searches make people believe that higher ranked search terms are essentially more realistic than lower ranked ones. The easier it is for people to believe this, the more likely their views on things they cannot decide on will change. In 2016, Epstein discovered that search suggestions can also be used to change public opinion and voting preferences, and he named this phenomenon the Search Suggestion Effect. Epstein is the founder and honorary director of the Cambridge Behavioral Research Center, and also the founding director of the Loebner Prize in the Artificial Intelligence Competition. This is an annual Turing test that has been conducted since 1990 and is currently conducted annually.