Risks and opportunities of 'generative A.I.': How do news media cover ChatGPT?

Abstract

While several studies have explored news coverage of artificial intelligence in general, knowledge of media reporting on generative A.I. is still scarce. First studies present contradictory findings regarding how the emerging technology is assessed by news media. Therefore, this exploratory study asks: How are ChatGPT and other forms of text generating A.I. reported in the news? Taking Germany as a case, a manual quantitative content analysis of articles (n = 560) published between November 2022 and April 2023 by major online news outlets was conducted. The results show that the most frequently mentioned opportunities are related to the automation or support of creative processes while the most prominent risk is fake content. All in all, the news reports highlight opportunities more often than risks. Furthermore, industry voices clearly dominate news reporting and technical solutions are most frequently mentioned. To conclude, German media reporting on artificial intelligence seems to follow a relatively narrow perspective so far and should therefore open up for a more diverse debate about how to mitigate the risks related to artificial intelligence.