Who Wrote It? News Readers’ Sensemaking of AI/Human Bylines

This exploratory mixed methods study analyzes readers' sensemaking of artificial intelligence's role in journalistic writing. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to a byline condition that varied the stated role of AI in a news story. Regardless of condition, participants detailed various explanatory stories—or "folk theories"—to explain AI's involvement in the writing process, ranging from AI primarily conducting the writing to AI assisting in specific tasks to optimize the writing. Overall, most participants did not view AI as an independent actor. The findings suggest newsrooms should be transparent about their AI use, given inconsistencies in readers' interpretation.