AI Agency in Fact-Checking: Role-Based Machine Heuristics and Publics’ Conspiratorial Orientation

With a focus on role-based (fact-checker and author) agencies and machine heuristics conceptualized by the modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability model, this study examines the comparative effect of AI (vs. human) agencies in debunking conspiracy theory news. Using a 2x2 online experiment with 506 participants, the study explores how conspiratorial orientation influences different role-based AI agencies’ relationships with machine heuristics, and therefore news credibility perception and corrective action intentions. Results reveal that AI (vs. human) role-based agencies have separate but also interaction effects on heuristic activation. Moreover, potentially because conspiratorial orientation originates from skepticism towards humans, AI fact-checkers can be associated with higher corrective action intention for individuals with high conspiratorial orientation by activating AI fact-checker’s positive machine heuristics.