“I Think It’s Exciting and Frightening at the Same Time”: Audience Sentiments Toward the Use and Labeling of Generative AI in Journalism

Abstract

This study explores audience sentiments toward generative artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism by analyzing in-depth qualitative interviews with Danish news consumers. Findings show that while the users acknowledge AI’s potential to improve efficiency and writing quality—and are sometimes delighted by the prospects—they emphasize the need for a human journalist in the loop. Many are concerned about AI replacing human journalists; some fear AI’s capacity to produce fake news, biased content, and clickbait, while others find AI annoyingly inappropriate and its writing generic and impersonal. Regarding transparency and labeling, opinions range from seeing it as irrelevant or context-dependent to essential.