Media Use, Interpersonal Communication, and Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This study examines how members of the public frame artificial intelligence (AI) along with how news use predicts “frames in mind” for AI. The study also tests whether news use, science fiction viewing, and discussing technology influence attitudes toward AI independently and in conjunction with one another. The analyses use data from a nationally representative online panel survey. Respondents invoked social progress and Pandora’s box frames for AI, and technology news use predicted mentioning each frame. Use of technology news also predicted change in support for AI, while science fiction viewing and discussing technology were conditionally related to such change.

Artists or art thieves? media use, media messages, and public opinion about artificial intelligence image generators

“…In doing so, the study builds on framing theory (Entman 1993;Scheufele 1999) as applied to communication about science and technology issues (Gamson and Modigliani 1989;Nisbet 2009). In particular, the study's hypotheses and research questions extend recent theorizing about how media use (Brewer et al 2022) and exposure to media frames (Bingaman et al 2021) are related to attitudes about AI. Drawing on data from a 2022 survey of the US public that included an experimental manipulation of exposure to different tweets about the topic, the analyses show that technology news use and science fiction viewing predicted support for AI art but also predicted negative perceptions of AI image generators as stealing jobs and art styles from human artists.…”

“…Given previous findings that members of the public who followed technology news were particularly likely to invoke social progress frames for AI and express support for it while also being particularly likely to invoke Pandora's box frames for AI (Brewer et al 2022), the present study tested the following hypothesis: H1A Technology news use will predict (a) support for AI art but also (b) negative beliefs about AI image generators taking artists' jobs and stealing their art styles.…”

“…In terms of social progress framing, coverage has highlighted potential benefits in terms of jobs and quality of life; in terms of Pandora's box framing, it has highlighted potential job losses and invasion of privacy as well as existential threats to humanity (Brewer et al 2022;Chuan et al 2019). In keeping with these patterns of framing in coverage, as well as broader findings that news use can predict audience members' frames in mind (Scheufele 1999), one recent study demonstrated that among the US public, technology news use was linked to invoking both social progress frames and Pandora's box frames for AI (Brewer et al 2022). Consistent with the overall prevalence of social progress framing over Pandora's box framing in coverage, this study also found that following technology news fostered support for developing AI.…”

“…Science fiction provides another potential source of audience frames for new technologies (Delgado et al 2012). A long line of research suggests that portrayals in entertainment media can cultivate attitudes about science (Dudo et al 2011;Gerbner 1987;, and more recent work on genre-specific media effects (Lee and Niederdeppe 2011) suggests that depictions in science fiction films and television programs can shape attitudes toward a range of emerging technologies (Besley and Shanahan 2005;Brewer and Ley 2021;Nisbet and Goidel 2007). Such effects of science fiction could stem in part from stylistic choices creators make to increase the likelihood that audience members will accept what they are watching as plausible and credible (Barnett et al 2006): portrayals that are perceptually realistic in terms of visuals and dialogue may produce a naturalizing effect that helps to shape audience beliefs (Kirby 2003).…”

“…Prominent examples of Pandora's box portrayals include Skynet from the Terminator franchise, the Machines from the Matrix franchise, and Ultron from the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, whereas examples of AIs as instruments of social progress include Data from the Star Trek franchise, the Machine from the television series Person of Interest, and Jarvis from the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Evidence indicates that such portrayals can influence audience members' attitudes about AI (Nader et al 2022), but recent findings also suggest that the links between science fiction viewing and opinions about the topic are complex in ways that reflect the genre's ambivalent depictions (Brewer et al 2022).…”