New study examines the modeling of civic engagement in the age of AI
A new study has found that public engagement with artificial intelligence (AI)-related issues depends on where people encounter AI news, how they discuss it and which sources and institutions they have come to trust.
The findings by Seungahn Nah, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Dianne Snedaker Chair in Media Trust and research director for the Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, Fanjue Liu, Ph.D. 2024 and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Assistant Professor, Jun Luo, Chinese University of Hong Kong Assistant Professor, Lee LaPlaca, M.A.M.C. 2025, and Chris DeFelice, Ph.D. 2026 and University of South Florida visiting assistant professor, are featured in “Modeling Civic Engagement in the Age of AI: A Communication Mediation Approach to AI News, Multifaceted Trust, and Participation in a Two-Wave Panel Study.” The article was published in the International Journal of Press/Politics on Sept. 14.
The authors examined how AI-related news consumption is associated with interpersonal discussion, multifaceted trust and AI-related offline civic participation. The study modeled AI-related news consumption across television, newspapers, online news sites and social media as the stimulus; AI-related online and offline discussion as reasoning; trust in AI-generated news, legacy media coverage of AI, and AI-related institutional actors as reorientation and AI-related offline civic participation as the response.
According to the authors, “Results reveal a selective communication pathway. Newspaper and social media AI news use were the most consistent predictors of AI-related discussion. Online discussion was associated with later trust in AI-generated news and legacy media coverage of AI and trust in AI-generated news and AI-related institutional actors was associated with later offline participation. The observed indirect pathways operated through online discussion and trust in AI-generated news.”
They add, “This study shows that AI-related civic engagement is shaped through a selective communication process: certain news platforms are more closely linked to discussion, online discussion is more closely tied to later trust orientations, and trust in AI-generated news and AI-related institutional actors is associated with offline participation. These findings suggest that public engagement with AI depends not only on exposure to AI-related news but also on the communicative spaces and trust targets through which citizens interpret AI-related issues.”
Category: AI at CJC News, College News, Trust News
Tagged: AI Chris DeFelice Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology Fanjue Liu Seungahn Nah
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