Fontes, G. S., & Splendore, S. (2026). Trust beyond algorithms: What drives Italian audiences’ perceptions of search results and news produced with AI. European Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231261473432
Summary
This paper investigates what drives Italian audiences’ trust in AI when it is deployed in different configurations within the information ecosystem. The authors distinguish between two roles for AI: acting as an intermediary in automated search results, and being embedded within news organisations that produce journalism. Drawing on a representative survey of Italian adults conducted in September 2025, the study compares trust patterns across these contexts and finds that AI-generated search results command more trust than AI-involved news. The authors argue that trust in AI is not monolithic but depends heavily on the configuration in which AI operates, and they highlight the growing role of search intermediaries in shaping how publics access and trust information.
Key Contributions
- Empirical evidence on audience trust in AI across two distinct roles — intermediary search versus embedded in news production — using a representative national sample.
- Demonstrates that trust in AI is configuration-dependent rather than a single, generalised disposition.
- Advances understanding of the differentiated dynamics of trust in AI within the Italian media and information ecosystem.
Methods
- Representative survey of Italian adults conducted in September 2025.
- Comparative analysis of trust across two AI configurations: AI as an intermediary in automated search results versus AI embedded in news organisations.
Findings
- AI-generated search results are trusted more by Italian audiences than AI-involved news produced by news organisations.
- Audience trust in AI varies according to the configuration in which AI is deployed.
- The relative trust advantage of search results points to the increasingly significant role of search intermediaries in how audiences access and evaluate information.
Connections
This paper sits within the strand of research on public perceptions of AI in the information ecosystem and complements work on how audiences evaluate AI-generated and AI-labelled content, such as Hameleers2026-mc and Gottfried2026-ww. Its focus on AI embedded in journalism and news organisations connects it to studies of newsroom AI adoption and its reception, including Dierickx2026-tw and Baym2026-tr.