Here’s how to detect when a CEO lies

An ASU expert's study shows artificial intelligence can detect deceptive language more accurately than lie detectors.

In this story published Oct. 29, 2023, in AZ Big Media:

Research shows that deceivers typically use certain linguistic speech patterns, including using fewer singular pronouns, inconsistent verb tense and fewer words referring to sensory experiences — e.g., words that reflect motion, space or time. However, this research is only about 65% accurate in detecting deception, which is better than our baseline ability — typically, accuracy without any additional tools hovers around 47% — but still needs improvement. Using a machine-learning approach, we build on this prior research in linguistics and can detect deception with around 85% accuracy. We use 22 different linguistic features linked to deception to build our model. This is a significant improvement but also shows that there is room to grow.

– Jonathan Bundy, Dean's Council Distinguished Scholar and associate professor of management and entrepreneurship