Who Gets Which Message? Auditing Demographic Bias in LLM-Generated Targeted Text
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Abstract (arXiv)
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly capable of generating personalized, persuasive text at scale, raising new questions about bias and fairness in automated communication. This paper presents the first systematic analysis of how LLMs behave when tasked with demographic-conditioned targeted messaging. We introduce a controlled evaluation framework using three leading models: GPT-4o, Llama-3.3, and Mistral-Large-2.1, across two generation settings: Standalone Generation, which isolates intrinsic demographic effects, and Context-Rich Generation, which incorporates thematic and regional context to emulate realistic targeting. We evaluate generated messages along three dimensions: lexical content, language style, and persuasive framing. We instantiate this framework on climate communication and find consistent age- and gender-based asymmetries across models: male- and youth-targeted messages tend to emphasize more assertive and progressive framing, while female- and senior-targeted messages more often reflect warmth, care, and traditional themes. Contextual prompts systematically amplify these disparities, with persuasion scores being higher for male-targeted messages, while age-related differences vary across models. Our findings demonstrate how demographic stereotypes can surface and intensify in LLM-generated targeted communication, underscoring the need for bias-aware generation pipelines and transparent auditing frameworks that explicitly account for demographic conditioning in socially sensitive applications.
Key facts. Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 20 of its 55 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 23 Jan 2026.
Builds on
20 of 55 references.
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8 more
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Citing papers per year: 2026: 4.
4 papers.
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- 2026Retrieval Improvements Do Not Guarantee Better Answers: A Study of RAG for AI Policy QA25 Mar 2026