Gisela Reiter, Andreas Hess and Marian Adolf from the Department of Communication presented a study on trust in AI-generated journalism at the 10th European Communication Conference (ECC 2024). The results of the study highlight the complex relationship between technological progress in journalism, audience perceptions and trust in news media.
ECC 2024, organized by the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), took place at the end of September under the motto “Communication & social (dis)order”. More than 1600 European and international communication researchers gathered in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to discuss the current state of communication research and the most important topics for the future.
Representing the Department of Communication, Gisela Reiter, Andreas Hess and Marian Adolf presented a study on trust in AI-generated journalism entitled “Patterns of (Dis-)Trust in human and AI-generated journalism – Changes and continuities of the perception of bias among young Austrians users”. The paper analyzed how audiences perceive AI-generated news articles – especially in comparison to texts written by human journalists.
Paradoxical results between objectivity and emotionality
The main findings showed that readers generally had less trust in AI-generated articles, but that this effect was moderated by readers’ prior attitudes towards AI technology: Those with a more positive view of AI tended to have more trust in AI-generated articles. The expectation that AI will produce more objective and factual news is somewhat paradoxical, since recipients also say that it is the emotionality of human-made journalism they value. It also shows that users are unaware of algorithmically induced bias in the content of AI-generated journalistic articles.
Fragile balance between audience trust and transparent use of AI
The research highlights the complex relationship between technological advances in journalism, audience perceptions and trust in the news media. It suggests that news organizations need to think carefully about how to maintain audience trust and ensure transparency in the use of AI in newsrooms. Because one thing seems clear: AI is here to stay!