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The Intersection of AI-Generated Content and Digital Capital : An Exploration of Factors Impacting AI-Detection and its Consequences

Abstract: This thesis investigates the capacity of individuals to detect AI-generated text, and the indicators that enable them to do so. This inquiry is situated in the broader theoretical context of digital capital, the digitization of society, deep mediatization, and AI literacy. Using a quantitative correlation approach, the study tested participants’ accuracy in detecting AI content, and shared factors between participants with high scores on this task. Participants were assessed on a number of self-reported demographic, digital capital, and digital society-based benchmarks in conjunction with AI detection accuracy. The study employed a mix of statistical methods, including logistic regression and point-biserial correlation matrices. However, only a few specific questions within the digital capital and digital society framework had a statistically significant impact on a participant being in the high-accuracy group, and these correlations were weak. Furthermore, two aspects of digital capital actually had a negative effect on the odds of scoring high on the text detection task.  The findings reveal that there is room for more research into what indicators influence human AI detection capabilities, and whether these skills are learnable or inherent to certain individuals. Moreover, the research highlights the necessity of fostering AI literacy, particularly if these capabilities improve human AI detection. While AI systems can ‘catch’ AI-generated text, their efficacy is mixed, and producers of AI text and evaluators are constantly locked in a game of cat-and-mouse, using evolving AI to recognize evolving AI. Thus, human skills are pivotal, lest we become even more dependent on technology in our deeply mediatized society.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-531840
Date January 2024
CreatorsBasta, Zofie
PublisherUppsala universitet, Medier och kommunikation
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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