Do some audiences find AI-generated news more credible than others—and why? Drawing on credibility research and machine heuristic , this study investigates how individual differences shape dispositions toward generative AI and, in turn, perceptions of AI-authored news credibility. Drawing on data from three parallel online experiments conducted in Germany, we examine credibility evaluations among 467 participants who read a news article on gender-inclusive language attributed to AI. We test indirect effects of individual differences on credibility perceptions via dispositions toward AI. Results demonstrate that (1) higher media trust, (2) political conservatism, (3) populist attitudes, (4) AI literacy, (5) lower fear of AI, (6) lower levels of education, and (7) being female predicted more favorable dispositions toward AI, which in turn were associated with higher perceived credibility of AI-authored news. Our findings advance theoretical understanding of audience responses to AI-generated journalism and carry practical implications for tailoring news strategies to audience profiles.
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Kravets et al. (2026) studied this question.
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