HASS Human-Centred AI Seminar
Abstracts
How self-relevance impacts aesthetic judgment and why it matters for AI-generated artworks by Marco Sperduti
A growing body of research highlights self-relevance as a key determinant of aesthetic appreciation, linking it to enhanced memory, emotional engagement, and subjective value. Aesthetic experiences are intensified when artworks resonate with personal identity, autobiographical memory, or emotional salience. At the same time, AI-generated artworks are often judged less favourably, subject to both implicit and explicit negative biases. This talk explores how insights into self-referential processing might inform the creation and presentation of AI art. We propose that embedding self-relevant cues in generative processes could offer a promising strategy to mitigate bias and foster more meaningful human–AI aesthetic encounters.
The anti-AI bias and its impact on emotions, perceived attractiveness, and sexual arousal by Dominique Makowski
What does it change to know or believe that what we experience is “fake”, inauthentic, fictional, or not crafted by a Human. This talk will present a series of psychological studies investigating the effect of reality (and unreality) beliefs across a variety of stimuli ranging from faces to erotic content. We will discuss a potential “anti-AI” general bias and how various characteristics (eg, personality) modulate it.
About the speakers
Marco Sperduti
Professor of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
Marco Sperduti was Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Université Paris Cité from 2017 to 2024. Since September, he has been Professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in the department of systems medicine. His research mainly focuses on self-representation and memory with recent application in neuroaesthetics.
Dominique Makowski
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK
Dr Makowski was initially trained as a clinical neuropsychologist in France, he earned his PhD in psychology from the University of Paris on the neurocognitive underpinnings of emotion regulation through fictional reappraisal, followed by a postdoctoral training in Singapore focusing on deception and fake news. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Sussex, UK, leading the “Reality Bending Lab” where he investigates the factors influencing our perception of reality.
Schedule
| 3.00 PM – 3.50 PM | How self-relevance impacts aesthetic judgment and why it matters for AI-generated artworks |
| 3.50 PM – 4.10 PM | Tea break |
| 4.10 PM – 5.00 PM | The anti-AI bias and its impact on emotions, perceived attractiveness, and sexual arousal |