Generative AI products like ChatGPT have been generating considerable buzz. News organizations are quickly adopting these technologies to enhance productivity and creativity, and some are even making deals to pay AI companies for scraping their content.

But how does the public feel about AI’s growing role in news production?

Human news

The Digital News Report: Australia 2024 reveals that Australians prefer news created by humans rather than AI, though their discomfort varies by topic.

An online survey of 2,003 adult Australians shows that they are more comfortable with AI-produced sports (31%) and entertainment news (26%) than with AI-produced politics (19%) and crime news (21%). This indicates that those who favor “hard” news are more skeptical about AI’s impact on important civic and social issues. In contrast, sports, lifestyle, and culture news consumers are more relaxed about AI involvement.

Overall, 59% of respondents feel uneasy about news produced mainly by AI with human oversight, compared to 28% who are uncomfortable with news produced mainly by human journalists with AI assistance.

Lack of understanding

A significant factor in this discomfort is a lack of understanding of AI technology. Only 44% of respondents say they know a moderate or large amount about AI. Those who know a fair bit (26%) are more likely to be comfortable with AI-produced news than those who know only a little (11%) or nothing at all (7%).

Awareness of AI also correlates with news consumption. Heavy news users (51%) are more aware of AI technology and more comfortable with AI-produced news than those who rarely or never access news (17% awareness, 6% comfort).

These findings suggest that attitudes towards AI in news may evolve as audiences become more familiar with it. They also emphasize the role of news organizations in explaining how they use AI.

Trust in news influences comfort with AI. People who trust their news sources are more comfortable with AI’s role in news production. One-quarter of those who trust the news they consume are comfortable with AI-produced news with human assistance, while 70% of those who distrust news are uncomfortable with this scenario.

Distrusting the news

For those who distrust news, the increasing use of AI may add another layer of uncertainty in an already challenging information landscape. Therefore, it’s crucial for news organizations to be transparent about how and why they use AI to maintain trust.

As AI news summaries become more common, news brands must highlight their original and credible content to retain paying audiences.