01/05 1pm-2:30pm: WBS Seminar - Prof. Alan Dennis - AI in Public Service Communications

internalcomms Resource — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:11:44 GMT

When: 1pm - 2:30pm, Fri, 01 May '26

Where: WBS 1.003

WBS Seminar - Prof. Alan Dennis - AI in Public Service Communications

Title: From Monologue to Dialogue: Remaking Public Service Communication with Celebrity-as-a-Service

Abstract: Public service communication aims to raise awareness and change behaviors on critical public issues, such as health, safety, and the environment. Public service communication typically takes one of two forms: a public service announcement (PSA), such as a video or radio advertisement that broadcasts information (a monologue), or a public service interaction (PSI), such as a meeting with officials that both provides and collects information (a dialogue). Celebrity involvement has traditionally been limited to PSAs due to cost and scalability challenges, but advancements in AI now enable the use of digital humans as scalable, interactive "celebrity-as-a-service" solutions. These AI-controlled digital celebrities are digital twins of real people and enable one-on-one interactions with celebrities at scale. In an online experiment, we compared a digital version of Hugh Jackman to a non-celebrity digital human delivering a skin cancer awareness message in both a PSA video and a one-on-one PSI. Results showed that both perceived celebrity (celebrity vs. non-celebrity) and interactivity (PSI vs. PSA) increased trustworthiness and enjoyment. Trustworthiness, in turn, increased the intention to comply with the message, while both trustworthiness and enjoyment increased the likelihood of sharing the message. We conclude that celebrity-as-a-service by AI-controlled digital celebrities opens the door to incorporating celebrities into one-on-one PSIs to drive more effective, scalable, and cost-effective public service communication.

Bio: Professor Alan Dennis is a Distinguished Professor of Information Systems and holds the John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is ranked as the second most published Information Systems researcher over the last 30 years. His research has been reported in the popular press almost 1000 times and a recent Stanford study placed him among the top 2% most influential researchers across all scientific disciplines. He received the LEO Award, the IS field’s highest honor, in 2021.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to this seminar. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

insite: our staff hub » Events Calendar

01/05 1pm-2:30pm: WBS Seminar - Prof. Alan Dennis - AI in Public Service Communications