New contexts, old heuristics: How young people in India and the US trust online content in the age of generative AI

We conducted an in-person ethnography in India and the US to investigate how young people (18-24) trusted online content, with a focus on generative AI (GenAI). We had four key findings about how young people use GenAI and determine what to trust online. First, when online, we found participants fluidly shifted between mindsets and emotional states, which we term"information modes."Second, these information modes shaped how and why participants trust GenAI and how they applied literacy skills. In the modes where they spent most of their time, they eschewed literacy skills. Third, with the advent of GenAI, participants imported existing trust heuristics from familiar online contexts into their interactions with GenAI. Fourth, although study participants had reservations about GenAI, they saw it as a requisite tool to adopt to keep up with the times. Participants valued efficiency above all else, and used GenAI to further their goals quickly at the expense of accuracy. Our findings suggest that young people spend the majority of their time online not concerned with truth because they are seeking only to pass the time. As a result, literacy interventions should be designed to intervene at the right time, to match users' distinct information modes, and to work with their existing fact-checking practices.

我们在印度和美国进行了实地民族志研究，以调查年轻人（18 - 24岁）如何信任网络内容，重点是生成式人工智能（GenAI）。关于年轻人如何使用GenAI以及如何确定在网上信任什么，我们有四个关键发现。首先，在上网时，我们发现参与者在不同的心态和情绪状态之间灵活转换，我们将其称为“信息模式”。其次，这些信息模式决定了参与者信任GenAI的方式和原因，以及他们如何运用素养技能。在他们花费大部分时间的模式中，他们回避素养技能。第三，随着GenAI的出现，参与者将来自熟悉的网络环境的现有信任启发法引入到他们与GenAI的交互中。第四，尽管研究参与者对GenAI有所保留，但他们将其视为与时俱进必须采用的工具。参与者最看重效率，并以牺牲准确性为代价使用GenAI来快速实现他们的目标。我们的研究结果表明，年轻人在网上的大部分时间并不关心真实性，因为他们只是在打发时间。因此，素养干预措施应设计为在正确的时间进行干预，以匹配用户不同的信息模式，并结合他们现有的事实核查做法。