Artificial Intelligence in Broadcasting: Public Trust and Misinformation Detection in Robotic News Presentation

Artificial Intelligence in Broadcasting: Public Trust and Misinformation Detection in Robotic News Presentation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Artificial Intelligence in Broadcasting: Public Trust and Misinformation Detection in Robotic News Presentation Raul Paradeda, Artemisia Silva, Mateus Furtado, Anderson Souza This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7706451/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose : Social robots are increasingly proposed for high-stakes societal roles such as journalism. This raises questions about public trust, especially for non-humanoid designs, and how source credibility affects an audience's critical evaluation of information. Methods : In a field experiment, 40 participants in Brazil interacted with an emotionally expressive, non-humanoid social robot that presented three news stories, one of which was fabricated. Pre- and post-interaction questionnaires assessed perceived trust, role acceptance, and misinformation detection. Results : The robot achieved high levels of credibility, and this trust correlated positively with its acceptance in journalistic roles. However, this credibility did not confer the ability to discern the truth; participants failed to identify the fabricated story at a rate below chance. Furthermore, the brief interaction was insufficient to significantly alter the participants' pre-existing concerns or perceived advantages of the technology. Conclusion : The findings reveal a critical 'credibility paradox', where a trusted robotic agent may inadvertently lower an audience's critical scrutiny, increasing vulnerability to misinformation. Public perceptions of robotic journalists appear to be robust and not easily swayed by short-term interactions. This study suggests that designing for credibility alone is insufficient; a parallel focus on fostering critical engagement is essential for the responsible deployment of automated agents in our information ecosystem. Human-robot interaction social robotics misinformation detection trust perception Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 20 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 13 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 03 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 24 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 24 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7706451","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":540459176,"identity":"9e87f0d4-8e30-40e4-b5c6-70c9eb5c244a","order_by":0,"name":"Raul 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This raises questions about public trust, especially for non-humanoid designs, and how source credibility affects an audience's critical evaluation of information.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e:\u0026nbsp;In a field experiment, 40 participants in Brazil interacted with an emotionally expressive, non-humanoid social robot that presented three news stories, one of which was fabricated. Pre- and post-interaction questionnaires assessed perceived trust, role acceptance, and misinformation detection.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e:\u0026nbsp;The robot achieved high levels of credibility, and this trust correlated positively with its acceptance in journalistic roles. However, this credibility did not confer the ability to discern the truth; participants failed to identify the fabricated story at a rate below chance. 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This study suggests that designing for credibility alone is insufficient; a parallel focus on fostering critical engagement is essential for the responsible deployment of automated agents in our information ecosystem.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Artificial Intelligence in Broadcasting: Public Trust and Misinformation Detection in Robotic News Presentation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-13 02:23:27","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7706451/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-02-21T01:26:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"179274682402473647301768160840866493271","date":"2026-02-11T11:45:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-12-28T14:01:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"248104826109507554163090461774384753318","date":"2025-11-13T17:47:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-13T17:15:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"248906562111427595394517643601459505437","date":"2025-11-13T16:50:35+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-11-03T13:53:58+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T02:22:31+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T02:20:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Intelligent \u0026 Robotic Systems","date":"2025-09-24T18:44:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-intelligent-and-robotic-systems","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Intelligent \u0026 Robotic Systems](https://link.springer.com/journal/10846)","snPcode":"10846","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/10846/3","title":"Journal of Intelligent \u0026 Robotic Systems","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Open","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"174451b3-b785-4f1f-a196-fb6d6127d13f","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 13th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-18T13:24:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-13 02:23:27","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7706451","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7706451","identity":"rs-7706451","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}