This study evaluated three versions of safer gambling (SG) emails, including (1) original emails sent to customers by JuegosONCE (a gambling operator in Spain), (2) an expert-informed human redesign, and (3) an AI-generated redesign. The researchers compared the three versions in terms of cognitive and emotional outcomes. Adult participants were recruited from JuegosONCE’s active customer base by email invitation and completed an online experiment with a survey. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) original emails (95 participants); (2) human-designed versions (123 participants); or (3) AI-generated versions (123 participants).
There were only small differences between the AI-generated and human-designed versions in terms of perceived quality (format, content, appropriateness, and appeal), and both versions outperformed the original emails. Both versions also received more positive emotional reaction. But psychological reactance was slightly higher for the AI-generated versions. Both versions did not have an impact on beliefs about winning probability or gambler’s fallacy. The AI-generated versions slightly increased the illusion of control.
