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Despite the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms worldwide, public perceptions of its application in journalism, particularly in the Global South, remain underexplored. This study uses in-depth interviews with Kenyan audiences to examine their views on its implementation in Kenyan newsrooms and their attitudes toward government regulations governing its use in newsrooms. The findings reveal a double-edged perception: while some participants viewed AI as a facilitator of efficiency and innovation in news production, others expressed concerns about its impact on journalistic integrity and employment in journalism. More importantly, we observed conditional support for integrating Generative AI into Kenyan newsrooms, along with a blend of skepticism and cautious endorsement of regulating its use in journalism. Participants endorsed regulating GenAI to mitigate AI hallucinations, especially the potential spread of misinformation. However, they expressed concerns that government intervention might hinder freedom of expression and called for safeguards grounded in ethical principles and shared responsibility rather than advocating for sweeping or restrictive forms of control. Furthermore, Kenyan audiences favored a multi-stakeholder model of governance in which responsibility does not fall solely on the government. Our findings contribute to research by revealing the nuances of GenAI usage among Kenyan audiences and the need for cautious integration of GenAI into the Kenyan media landscape, with appropriate adoption, regulation and ethical considerations.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.