PSYCHOLOGY • HUMAN JUDGMENT • SOCIAL INFLUENCE • AI
HOW DO PEOPLE DECIDE WHAT — AND WHOM — TO TRUST?
I'm exploring how people evaluate information, respond to authority and exercise judgment when AI enters decision-making.
GRADE 12 • GURUGRAM, INDIA
THE QUESTION BEHIND MY WORK
WHAT CHANGES WHEN THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION CHANGES?
I became interested in what happens when people rely on a source they see as knowledgeable or authoritative.
Do they question it?
Do they defer to it?
How does perceived credibility affect judgment?
And what changes when that source is an AI system?
I began with questions about social influence and human judgment. They led me to examine how children evaluate information sources and how AI may influence decisions within institutions.
AN EVOLVING INQUIRY
Two connected journeys show how these questions developed.
JOURNEY 1 — FROM SOCIAL INFLUENCE TO CHILDREN & AI
JOURNEY 2 — FROM AI IN DECISION-MAKING TO AI AS AN AUTHORITY
↓ QUESTIONS THAT LED TO FURTHER INQUIRY
↓ QUESTIONS TAKEN INTO PRACTICE
↓ FURTHER DEVELOPED THROUGH RESEARCH
18 MAR 2026 . GLOBAL ZOOM ROUNDTABLE
COMPLETED . OCT 2026
30 JUL 2026 · ACADEMIC–INDUSTRY ROUNDTABLE
10 SEP 2026 · PRACTITIONER PRESENTATION
COMPLETED. OCT 2026
HUMAN DECISION-MAKING & SOCIAL INFLUENCE
CHILDREN & AI
WHEN AI ENTERS THE ROOM
WHEN AI MAKES THE DECISION
WHEN AI BECOMES AN AUTHORITY
WHEN AI ENTERS THE ROOM
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I convened an interdisciplinary roundtable examining human judgment, social influence, hierarchy, conformity, silence and responsibility in complex institutions.
Building on these questions, I studied how 108 children aged 7–11 judged whether a friend, Google and ChatGPT could correctly answer questions about the past, present and future.
I conceived, organized and moderated an academic–industry roundtable examining human judgment, responsibility and institutional behaviour when AI enters decision-making.
I brought the questions from the roundtable into a practitioner setting, presenting and discussing them with legal, privacy, governance and data professionals.
Together, these engagements informed my 13-page exploratory qualitative paper on perceived AI authority, trust, cognitive delegation, responsibility and dissent.
VIEW DOCUMENTATION →
VIEW RESEARCH →
VIEW DIALOGUE →
VIEW ENGAGEMENT →
READ THE RESEARCH →
FEATURED RESEARCH
CHILDREN & AI
CHILDREN’S EVALUATION OF HUMAN, SEARCH ENGINE, AND GENERATIVE AI INFORMATION SOURCES ACROSS TEMPORAL DOMAINS
COMPLETED • OCTOBER 2026 • 23 PAGES • QUANTITATIVE STUDY
RESEARCH BY PARTH PARNAMI
SUPERVISED BY STEVE JOORDENS, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, AND FATOS SELITA, HULT INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL, UK
"How do children judge whether a person or a digital source can answer a question correctly?"
I examined this question in an online study of 108 children aged 7–11 in Grades 3–5 at a school in Gurugram, India. Participants evaluated a friend, Google and ChatGPT across questions about the past, present and future.
WHAT EMERGED
Google received the highest proportion of “Yes” judgments that it could correctly answer a question (70.37%), followed by ChatGPT (58.02%) and a friend (33.95%).
Children were less likely to judge a source capable of answering future-oriented questions than past- or present-oriented questions. Age was not significantly associated with their judgments in the fitted model.
RESEARCH INTEGRITY
The study examines perceived capability, not actual answer accuracy. Participants came from one school, so the findings should not be treated as representative of children across India.
THREE WAYS I PURSUE A QUESTION
01 — ASK: RESEARCH
02 — LISTEN: DIALOGUE
03 — CONNECT: INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK
I investigate how people evaluate information, judge authority and make decisions.
I organize conversations that bring different perspectives into the same room.
I follow psychological questions into AI, law/IP and institutional practice.
FROM THE ROOM — 30 JULY 2026
WHEN AI ENTERS THE ROOM
Human Judgment, Responsibility & Institutional Behaviour
Watch two short excerpts from the academic–industry roundtable I conceived, organized and moderated on how AI changes human judgment and responsibility.
ONE QUESTION. STILL OPEN.
HOW DO PEOPLE DECIDE WHAT TO TRUST—AND WHAT CHANGES WHEN AI BECOMES A SOURCE OF INFORMATION OR A PART OF DECISION-MAKING?
My research continues to explore how source, perceived authority and context shape human judgment.