AI can see you: Machiavellianism and extraversion are reflected in eye-movements.
Elina TsigemanViktoria ZemliakMaxim LikhanovKostas A PapageorgiouYulia V KovasPublished in: PloS one (2024)
Extracted eye movement features introduced to machine learning algorithms predicted personality traits with above 33% chance accuracy (34%-48%). This result is comparable to previous ecologically valid studies, but lower than in laboratory-based research. Better prediction was achieved for Machiavellianism and Extraversion compared to other traits (10 and 9 predictions above the chance level by different algorithms from different parts of the recording). Conscientiousness, Narcissism and Psychopathy were not reliably predicted from eye movements. These differences in predictability across traits might be explained by differential activation of different traits in different situations, such as new vs. familiar, exciting vs. boring, and complex vs. simple settings. In turn, different machine learning approaches seem to be better at capturing specific gaze patterns (e.g. saccades), associated with specific traits evoked by the situation. Further research is needed to gain better insights into trait-situation-algorithm interactions.