The presentation will be held in Scheller College of Business, Room 201 Tuesday, June 18th, at 10 AM EST

 

You are also welcome to join remotely via the provided Zoom link: https://gatech.zoom.us/j/94124160317

 

The abstract is included below, and copies of the proposal are available upon request.

 

Charles (Charley) Irons, CPA

Accounting PhD Student

Georgia Institute of Technology | Scheller College of Business

 

 

 

Area: Accounting

 

Committee Members: Dr. Robbie Moon (Chair), Dr. Justin Blann, Dr. Eric Condie, Dr. Jonathan Shipman (University of Arkansas), Dr. Teri Yohn (Emory University)

 

Title: The Influence of AI-Like Text on Responses to Disclosure: Evidence from AI Detection Models

 

Abstract:

 

The recent rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI models has revolutionized machine-generated text. One potential application of this technology is aiding in crafting firms’ narrative disclosures. Using two different, highly rated, commercially available AI detection models, I create novel measures of AI-like text in disclosure based on AI detection models’ classification that the text was generated either wholly or in part by AI. Using these measures, I study changes in disclosure surrounding the release of ChatGPT-4.0 in early 2023 and document a significant increase in the incidence of AI-like text in earnings conference call prepared remarks but not in managers’ responses to questions. Further evidence suggests that AI-like text in disclosure is more common among smaller, younger firms, and, on average, exhibits more positive tone, less uncertainty, and more forward-looking statements than non-AI-like disclosure text. I then compare the market responses to linguistic measures from AI-like disclosure text and non-AI-like disclosure text. Contrary to other studies that find generative AI text to be of higher quality and more persuasive than human text, my evidence suggests that tone in non-AI-like disclosure text is more strongly associated with returns. Overall, my results suggest that AI-like text may mute responses to information in disclosure.