Invisible Editors: Impact of AI on Media Content Quality and Trust
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AI technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, and automated journalism are rapidly transforming how media content is produced, distributed, and consumed. These tools promise greater efficiency, for example, automated news writing and personalized content recommendations, and enable real-time delivery of information. At the same time, their integration into media workflows has intensified concerns about the circulation of biased, low-quality, irrelevant information and disinformation. Because AI systems learn from existing data, they can reproduce and even amplify the biases embedded in that data, while accelerating the spread of disinformation and undermining trust in media institutions.
This study examines how AI becomes an invisible gatekeeper, contributes to biased and irrelevant media content and explores the consequences for public trust and democratic discourse. Using a mixed-methods design, including: content analysis of AI-generated and AI-curated media, an online survey, and secondary data, the research shows that media practitioners and audiences recognize both the transformative potential of AI and its ethical risks. A strong majority of survey participants perceive AI’s impact on media as significant or very significant and associate AI algorithms with the spread of biased or low-quality information across news and social platforms. Respondents also express substantial concern about the opacity and limited accountability of AI systems in shaping what information people see.
The findings point to an urgent need for strategies that reduce AI-induced bias and improve information quality, such as enhancing algorithmic transparency, diversifying training data, and developing clear regulatory and ethical frameworks. Drawing on media and communication theories, this article offers a critical analysis of AI’s role in contemporary media and outlines pathways for more responsible and accountable use of AI in the information ecosystem.
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