‘What they’re not telling you about ChatGPT’: exploring the discourse of AI in UK news media headlines
Roe, Jasper, and Perkins, Mike (2023) ‘What they’re not telling you about ChatGPT’: exploring the discourse of AI in UK news media headlines. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10. 753.
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Abstract
This study analyses the discursive representation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT in UK news media headlines from January to May 2023. A total of 671 headlines were collected and analysed using inductive thematic analysis, theoretically informed by Agenda-Setting theory and Framing theory. The results offer an initial picture of how recent technological advances in the fields of AI have been communicated to the public. The results show that there is a complex and at times paradoxical portrayal of AI in general and ChatGPT as well as other Large Language Models (LLMs), oscillating between promising potential for solving societal challenges while simultaneously warning of imminent and systemic dangers. Further to this, the analysis provides evidence for the claim that media representations of AI are often sensationalised and tend to focus more on warnings and caution to readers, as only a minority of headlines were related to helpful, useful, or otherwise positive applications of AI, ChatGPT, and other Large Language Models (LLMs). These findings underscore the pivotal role of media discourse in shaping public perceptions of AI. The study prompts reflections on news media practices in the United Kingdom and encourages future research to further examine the influence of social, cultural, and political contexts on AI representation during a period of technological change. This research provides relevant insights for policymakers, AI developers, and educators to support public engagement with AI technologies.
| Item ID: | 81120 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2662-9992 |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Mar 2024 22:50 |
| FoR Codes: | 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4407 Policy and administration > 440701 Communications and media policy @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1302 Communication > 130204 The media @ 100% |
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