Only a small number of Australians (18%) consider themselves never to have been fooled by AI generated content or fake news, according to research by the BBC Studios.
Almost three-quarters (73%) of Australians surveyed could not determine whether they had been fooled by AI generated content or fake news and a further 9% clearly identifying an instance of having been tricked by unreal content.
The survey, which explored Australians’ attitudes towards verifying news stories and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in spreading misinformation, revealed that only 39% of respondents said they feel well-informed about how to spot fake news, and more than half (53%) said they do not think they could identify a news article created using AI.
“These findings demonstrate the high level of concern about the spread of misinformation and the role that new technologies can play in that, along with the importance of verifying news stories," says Jamie Chambers, BBC Studios’ VP, Australia & New Zealand Ad Sales.
"This feels even more significant in a year when half of the world’s voting age public could be partaking in elections and the role media & news publishers will play during these moments.
"The research also echoes prominent recent findings such as from the Edelman Trust Barometer that highlight the public’s fears around rapid innovation, and in particular the impact AI may have on society."
More results from the survey, carried out online October 2023 with 278 individuals who consume international news regularly:
Artificial Intelligence: Australians have mixed feelings towards AI’s impact on society, with 37% believing that it has a positive impact on society and 43% considering the impact to be negative. 70% agree that AI amplifies the spread of misinformation in news and almost two thirds (64%) said they are not likely to trust news sources which indicate that they use AI to generate stories.
News Verification: The study shows that Australians are making conscious efforts to avoid sharing unverified headlines and news stories on their own social and chat accounts, with 83% regularly using a secondary source to check news stories and breaking news if it comes from a source they are not familiar with.
Trusted Sources: Mainstream international media organisations are considered the most reliable sources of accurate news stories, with 72% of respondents in agreement.
Local and national media organisations also rated highly, whilst news aggregators (11%) and search engines (17%) were amongst those rated poorly as sources of accurate news. Less than 3.5% consider social media outlets to be reliable news sources and the least trusted is celebrities, with less than 0.5% considering them a reliable source
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