Feeds of Distrust: Investigating How AI-Powered News Chatbots Shape User Trust and Perceptions

Abstract

The start of the 2020s ushered in a new era of AI through the rise of Generative AI Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. These AI chatbots offer a form of interactive agency by enabling users to ask questions and query for more information. However, prior research only considers if LLMs have a political bias or agenda, and not how a biased LLM can impact a user’s opinion and trust. Our study bridges this gap by investigating a scenario where users read online news articles and then engage with an interactive AI chatbot, where both the news and the AI are biased to hold a particular stance on a news topic. Interestingly, participants were far more likely to adopt the narrative of a b..