HUMAN AND AI NARRATIVES: QUANTIFYING READER EMOTIONAL RESPONSES IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Abstract:
In this age where artificial intelligence is not just analysing texts but also generating narratives,
the boundaries between human creativity and machine authorship have become increasingly blurred. This
paper carefully examines how readers emotionally respond to human-written and AI-generated texts. The
study focuses on two contrasting works, “Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” by
Max Tegmark, which is a philosophical exploration of humanity's future with AI, and “Through the Eyes of
Code”, an AI-generated narrative that reflects the machine's attempt to mimic human perception and
emotion. Drawing on Reader Response Theory, the research investigates the nature and intensity of
readers emotional engagement with an excerpt from each text. The study measures emotions such as
empathy, curiosity, and unease using a mixed-methods design that combines quantitative surveys and
qualitative reflections. It analyses how readers attribute meaning and authenticity to different forms of
authorship. The findings are expected to reveal not only how emotional resonance differs between human
and AI narratives but also how digital environments reshape our notions of authorship, emotion, and
literary value. Ultimately, the paper seeks to understand whether readers connect more deeply with human
intentionality or with the emergent emotional patterns produced by artificial intelligence, highlighting the
evolving relationship between technology, literature, and the human mind in the digital age.