Exploring the Interplay between Emotions and Distortion in Informal Science Discourse – EMO-SCI

Scientific claims and informal discussions about science-related issues online have increased significantly, often becoming tools for manipulative narratives and disinformation. Emotions like fear and pride play a key role in spreading such claims, especially during crises like pandemics or natural disasters. Even well-intended science communication introduces distortions through (over-)simplification, decontextualization, inaccurate or missing references, complicating fact-checking and broader discourse analysis. While emotions frequently coincide with these distortions, their interplay remains under-investigated. EMO-SCI researches the link between emotions and informal online scientific discourse by integrating emotion detection with the analysis of informal scientific claims. It pioneers research at their intersection, offering new annotated data, models and tools for analyzing emotions in online science claims, while also exploring these phenomena for the first time in the context of dialogues with Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots. The project’s goals are oriented towards providing tools for better understanding and reducing science-related mis- and disinformation online.