Commentary

The People And AI: Fewer Than Half Trust It For News And Information

Consumers are getting more familiar with AI. That doesn’t mean they like it, judging by a new poll from SmartNews, conducted by YouGov.  

Fewer than half of all readers – some 47% – now trust AI for news/information, and only 14% have a great deal of faith in it. However, the total is up from 41% in October 2023 and 46% in January 2024. 

Among those who are not now using AI, 52% say it is not trustworthy. And that has gone up from 48% last October.  

Another 47% have privacy surveillance concerns and 47% are worried about social/news manipulation, and 43% flatly say they don’t need AI, but only 33% have concerns about job loss, although that has risen from 31% in October 2023. 

In general, 71% say they are very familiar with AI on an unaided basis, up from 67% in the last two periods studied. On an aided basis, 62% are familiar. 

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Of the consumers polled, 23% use AI almost every day or several times a day, with 7% specifying the latter. But that 23% is up from 21% in January 2024.  

At the same time, people who do not use AI is now down to 30% from 39% in October 2023.  

“Tech and AI companies face significant consumer skepticism," says Ben Leiner, head of product marketing and research at SmartNews. "News is a critically important area for Americans and they are extremely wary of AI 'hallucinations’ and AI-enabled misinformation campaigns. 

Leiner adds, "The takeaway is clear: to earn the trust of Americans, tech companies using AI need to work with high-quality publishers to ensure the AI news content they produce is accurate and authentic. Otherwise, they risk further eroding readers’ trust in the news and destabilizing the information ecosystem.”

YouGov surveyed 2,500 smartphone news consumers in April 2024.

 

1 comment about "The People And AI: Fewer Than Half Trust It For News And Information".
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  1. Ben B from Retired, June 12, 2024 at 9:46 p.m.

    I also don't trust AI for news there will always be bad actors when it comes to AI news I hope it will be used the right, that it will be used for and not evil it will just be a few bad apples. I hope in the coming years that I will be able to trust it but it will be like most things where a lot will not trust in news other than local news that seems to be the most trusted.

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About the Author

Ray Schultz is the former editor of DM News, Chief Marketer, Direct, Circulation Management and other marketing titles.