The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation?
Online health misinformation carries serious social and public health implications. A growing prevalence of sophisticated online health misinformation employs advanced persuasive tactics, making misinformation discernment progressively more challenging. Enhancing media literacy is a key approach to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1487213/full |
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| author | Wei Peng Jingbo Meng Tsai-Wei Ling |
| author_facet | Wei Peng Jingbo Meng Tsai-Wei Ling |
| author_sort | Wei Peng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Online health misinformation carries serious social and public health implications. A growing prevalence of sophisticated online health misinformation employs advanced persuasive tactics, making misinformation discernment progressively more challenging. Enhancing media literacy is a key approach to improving the ability to discern misinformation. The objective of the current study was to examine the feasibility of using generative AI to dissect persuasive tactics as a media literacy scaffolding tool to facilitate online health misinformation discernment. In a mixed 3 (media literacy tool: control vs. National Library of Medicine [NLM] checklist vs. ChatGPT tool) × 2 (information type: true information vs. misinformation) × 2 (information evaluation difficulty: hard vs. easy) online experiment, we found that using dissecting persuasive strategies of ChatGPT can be equally effective when compared with the NLM checklist, and that information type was a significant moderator such that the ChatGPT tool was more effective in helping people identify true information than misinformation. However, the ChatGPT tool performed worse than control in terms of helping people discern misinformation. No difference was found in terms of perceived usefulness and future use intention of the ChatGPT tool and the NLM checklist. The results suggest that more interactive or conversational features might enhance usefulness of ChatGPT as a media literacy tool. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-648982f3073a439194fafb20237abc42 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj-art-648982f3073a439194fafb20237abc422025-08-20T01:54:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2024-11-01910.3389/fcomm.2024.14872131487213The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation?Wei Peng0Jingbo Meng1Tsai-Wei Ling2Department of Media and Information, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesSchool of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United StatesDepartment of Media and Information, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesOnline health misinformation carries serious social and public health implications. A growing prevalence of sophisticated online health misinformation employs advanced persuasive tactics, making misinformation discernment progressively more challenging. Enhancing media literacy is a key approach to improving the ability to discern misinformation. The objective of the current study was to examine the feasibility of using generative AI to dissect persuasive tactics as a media literacy scaffolding tool to facilitate online health misinformation discernment. In a mixed 3 (media literacy tool: control vs. National Library of Medicine [NLM] checklist vs. ChatGPT tool) × 2 (information type: true information vs. misinformation) × 2 (information evaluation difficulty: hard vs. easy) online experiment, we found that using dissecting persuasive strategies of ChatGPT can be equally effective when compared with the NLM checklist, and that information type was a significant moderator such that the ChatGPT tool was more effective in helping people identify true information than misinformation. However, the ChatGPT tool performed worse than control in terms of helping people discern misinformation. No difference was found in terms of perceived usefulness and future use intention of the ChatGPT tool and the NLM checklist. The results suggest that more interactive or conversational features might enhance usefulness of ChatGPT as a media literacy tool.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1487213/fullChatGPTinformation credibilitymisinformationmedia literacypersuasive strategy |
| spellingShingle | Wei Peng Jingbo Meng Tsai-Wei Ling The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation? Frontiers in Communication ChatGPT information credibility misinformation media literacy persuasive strategy |
| title | The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation? |
| title_full | The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation? |
| title_fullStr | The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation? |
| title_short | The media literacy dilemma: can ChatGPT facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation? |
| title_sort | media literacy dilemma can chatgpt facilitate the discernment of online health misinformation |
| topic | ChatGPT information credibility misinformation media literacy persuasive strategy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1487213/full |
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