Audience Trust in the Era of AI and Fake News
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a defining tool in modern journalism, transforming how news is gathered, written, and delivered. But as machines increasingly contribute to the news-making process, audiences may ask themselves: how much can news be trusted when AI is involved?
How Audiences View AI in Journalism
In a recent survey, the Reuters Institute at Oxford University examined six countries (Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the UK, and the US) to explore how people view the use of AI in news and journalism. While many people recognise the efficiency and potential of AI tools, the report found, they remain cautious about AI’s impact on credibility and truth. Many believe that generative AI is likely to benefit publishers more than it will benefit users.
More than 50% of respondents believed that journalists are using AI to edit the spelling and grammar of articles, with a similar proportion saying it is used for translation and data analysis. People’s comfort with journalists using generative AI for particular tasks tends to align with how frequently they believe these tools are actually used. The public generally thinks journalists apply AI in ways they feel comfortable with. For instance, a majority (55%) are at ease with AI being used for spelling and grammar corrections.
In another survey, the U.S.-based Poynter Institute queried American news consumers and found that over a quarter of respondents believe newsrooms rely on AI to write story text frequently or constantly. A significant portion of news audiences also think publishers are increasingly using AI to produce articles or generate images.
Despite this awareness, confidence in how journalists use AI remains low: more than half of Americans reported little or no trust in newsrooms producing articles or photos with AI. There is strong support for transparency and clear ethical guidelines, with over 90% of highly engaged, news-literate readers wanting AI-generated text and image edits to be clearly disclosed.
Human Oversight Matters
Human oversight is vital in AI journalism, yet only a third of respondents in Reuters’ report believe journalists regularly check AI outputs before publishing. Trust in news strongly influences perceptions: 57% of those who trust the media think checks occur often, compared with just 19% of those who distrust it. These findings highlight that AI transparency measures alone may not be enough to earn audience trust.
AI may be able to assemble information and produce factual content, but it cannot yet interpret human emotion or cultural context. The empathy, curiosity, and ethical reasoning that define quality reporting cannot be automated.
The most trustworthy newsrooms will be those that integrate AI as an assistant, not a replacement. Editorial judgement, accountability, and verification must remain human-led, with AI serving to influence accuracy, not tone.
The Future
People remain sceptical about the use of generative AI in journalism. There is a noticeable “comfort gap” between AI-assisted and human-produced news, and many consumers view the increased use of generative AI negatively, expecting it to lead to cheaper, less trustworthy reporting.
But what can be done to maintain trust or win it back? Given widespread caution about AI in journalism, it is crucial for news organisations to clearly communicate their AI policies.
Poynter developed an ethics guide and an AI newsroom toolkit in 2024 to help news organisations share their ethical policies with readers, which has since been revised and expanded with new information.
The future of trustworthy journalism depends on striking a balance between AI innovation and ethics, efficiency and transparency, automation and accountability. As we enter this new era, one important fact remains: Audiences want fast news that they can trust. And as long as news organisations are clear on who is telling the story, consumers can have it both ways.
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