Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

A Comparative Study on Audience Trust in AI-Generated News: A Survey of University Students in China and Japan

Zihan ZhouSophia University*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into news production and dissemination is transforming journalism. As trust is fundamental to effective communication, understanding its determinants across different sociocultural contexts is crucial. One of the issues hindering the potential of generating news content using AI is the issue of audience trust. However, audience trust in news dissemination—an important pillar of the trust relationship—can vary from one cultural and journalistic media ecosystem to another. Because of their innovative technological adaptability, college students represent an important group of professionals and are among the largest groups of consumers of digital content. This study collected data from Chinese and Japanese college students and utilized an online questionnaire to address the relevant aspects of the trust gap in AI news generation between countries. The study found that media usage and trust have a positive relationship, but the level of that relationship differs between the two countries. In the study, the trust in AI news generation among respondents from China was more pronounced, and it was absent among respondents from Japan. The results are important for developing AI news and distribution and are the first attempts to analyze the design of cross-border AI news generation, trust, and production.

Keywords: Generative AI; Trust in News; AI-Generated Content; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Media Psychology
Published: May 18, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.33490
Volume: CHR Vol.107
pp. 222-233
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