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Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

College

College of Business

Department

Economics

Keywords

Artificial intelligence (AI), Social media, AI perception, gender, Information credibility, Digital news, AI-generated content, Misinformation, Fake news, privacy, trust, content, Human–AI interaction, SPSS, Media psychology, user attitude

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping social media through content personalization and moderation, raising questions about its influence on public opinion and trust in digital news. Gender plays a key role in shaping perceptions of AI’s impact, with men and women potentially viewing its applications differently. This study explored gender-based perspectives on AI’s role in social media, focusing on its effects on information credibility and privacy. Data from 155 participants, collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk, were analyzed using IBM’s SPSS. The first hypothesis proposed that women would be more skeptical than men about AI's use in news, citing greater concerns over misinformation. The second suggested that women would view AI as less problematic when applied to creative content. The results confirmed these hypotheses and were statistically significant at the 1% level (p≤.01). Women were more likely than men (56.3% vs. 43.4%) to see AI as “somewhat beneficial” for creative content applications. However, they also expressed greater caution about AI-generated news, with 37.5% of women strongly agreeing that AI contributes to more believable fake news, compared to 18.4% of men. These results indicate that women perceive AI as more beneficial for creative purposes but harbor greater concerns about its role in spreading misinformation. Understanding these gender-based differences can guide the development of AI tools that better address diverse concerns, enhancing both trustworthiness and user satisfaction on social media platforms.

Advisors

Monica Escaleras, Eric Levy

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