Engaging the unengaged: Differential effects of AI-driven climate communication across audiences

Despite the urgent need for widespread climate action, current communication approaches have limited impact, especially on less engaged audiences. To address this issue, we examined the effectiveness of AI-driven climate communication in influencing pro-environmental intentions and intentions to adapt to climate change (Study 1; laboratory setting, N = 178), as well as participants’ likelihood of engaging with the communication material in the first place (Study 2; online setting; N = 295). In Study 1, both AI-driven and textual climate communication formats increased pro-environmental and adaptation intentions from pre- to post-intervention. Importantly, the effectiveness of the different communication formats depended on audience characteristics: the textual communication was more effective for highly climate-curious participants, while the AI-driven communication was more effective for those with low curiosity. Study 2 further showed that AI-driven climate communication was perceived as more engaging than a comprehensive textual scientific climate report. This was particularly pronounced for participants with low climate change curiosity and threat beliefs. We conclude that more experiential communication formats like AI-driven climate communication may help engage and impact previously unengaged audiences.