Man vs. machine: Human responses to an AI newscaster and the role of social presence

ABSTRACT

Technology advancements made the possibility of artificial intelligence (AI) newscasters a reality. Some news stations across the world have already employed AI to deliver the news, and more news stations may continue this trend. However, little is known about how the audience will respond to news when it is delivered by AI. Thus, the present study investigates people’s perceptions about an AI newscaster, compared to a human newscaster, in the context of delivering a weather newscast. Primary findings indicate that people perceive a human newscaster as more credible than an AI newscaster; however, information seeking intentions and behavioral intentions do not differ between the type of newscaster. Further, when listening to a weather newscast delivered by an AI newscaster, the perceived social presence of an AI newscaster is positively associated with greater levels of credibility, information seeking intentions, and behavioral intentions. Collectively, this exploratory research suggests the possibility that AI newscasters can be incorporated to the news broadcasting industry when human resources are limited.

KEYWORDS:

• AI newscaster
• artificial intelligence
• human-machine communication
• social presence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).