AI-generated news consumption: emotional and attentional impact on university students

• Autores: Villalba-Palacin, Vicente, Franganillo, Jorge, Lopezosa, Carlos, Sánchez, Lydia, Calderón, Caterina
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2025
• Institución: Universidad de Piura
• Repositorio: Revista de Comunicación
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistas.udep.edu.pe:article/3843
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistadecomunicacion.com/article/view/3843
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: inteligencia artificial; desinformación; adicción a internet; estudiantes universitarios; actividad electrodérmica; sociograph; contenido digital; redes sociales; artificial intelligence; disinformation; internet addiction; university students; electrodermal activity; online content; social networks

Purpose: The generalized use of the Internet and social networks has promoted new forms of communication and virtual interaction, especially among university students aged 18 to 24, who are heavy users of this technology. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) and its ability to generate content, such as news, have sparked debate about the veracity of information and the need for responsible consumption to prevent misinformation. In addition, several studies show that excessive use of mobile devices, the Internet and social networks can lead to addiction and that AI-generated texts can be as persuasive as those written by humans. The main objective of this research is to analyze whether there are differences in the emotional and attentional response to journalistic news versus those generated by AI (GPT-4) as a function of gender and level of Internet addiction. Methodology: Sociograph was used to evaluate physiological activation to different stimuli, and Young's Internet addiction test. Results and conclusions: The study was conducted with 46 university students. The results show a greater emotional reactivity when consuming AI-generated news, which highlights the need for critical analysis of information in the digital age. Original contributions: This study provides original evidence on how AI-generated information can generate a greater emotional response than journalistic information, and raises new questions about the role of Internet addiction as a risk factor in susceptibility to misinformation.