Study: Public Doesn’t Trust News Media’s Use Of Generative AI. | Story
A recent report from the Reuters Institute sheds light on global readers’ attitudes toward the integration of generative AI in news production. The study, spanning six countries including Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the UK, and the U.S., delved into public perceptions and expectations regarding the role of AI in journalism.
Despite ongoing debates on the actual impact of generative AI in news dissemination, the general consensus among the public is that its influence is pervasive and likely to continue reshaping the industry. Across the surveyed nations, a majority of respondents believe that journalists currently employ generative AI tools “always” or “sometimes,” with some human oversight, across various editorial tasks such as article writing, image generation, data analysis, copyediting, and headline creation.
Looking forward, 66% of participants anticipate a significant impact of generative AI on the news media landscape. However, optimism wanes when considering its potential effects on news quality. While scientific research, healthcare, and retail received positive feedback regarding AI integration, news and journalism ranked poorly in respondents’ perceptions, trailing behind categories like equality and job security.
Comfort levels with AI adoption fluctuate depending on the journalistic task at hand. While respondents generally accept AI assistance in basic editorial functions like copyediting and translation, reservations grow when AI is tasked with core journalistic elements such as writing the article body or creating an artificial author persona.
Moreover, comfort levels vary across different beats, with fashion, sports, and arts coverage being more readily accepted than politically sensitive topics like international affairs and politics.
Despite widespread acceptance of AI’s role in news production, the study highlights a significant reluctance among consumers to pay for AI-generated news compared to human-produced content. Additionally, there’s a prevailing belief that AI adoption in newsrooms is primarily driven by cost-cutting motives, potentially undermining the trust between news publishers and their audience.
Overall, the study underscores a pervasive skepticism toward news media’s responsible use of generative AI, with trust levels lagging behind other industries and institutions.
