Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet

Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
AI chatbot accountability in the age of algorithmic gatekeeping: Comparing generative search engine political information retrieval across five languages
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Geography, Media and Communication (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0920-8153
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Geography, Media and Communication (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8504-5691
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Geography, Media and Communication (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4286-7764
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Geography, Media and Communication (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1430-4964
Show others and affiliations
2025 (English)In: New Media and Society, ISSN 1461-4448, E-ISSN 1461-7315Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

This study investigates the performance of search engine chatbots powered by large language models in generative political information retrieval. Applying algorithmic accountability as a central theme, this research (a) assesses the alignment of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot responses with timely political information, (b) investigates the factual correctness and transparency of chatbot-sourced synopses, (c) examines the adherence of chatbots to democratic norms and impartiality ideals, (d) analyzes the sourcing and attribution behaviors of the chatbots, and (e) explores the universality of chatbot gatekeeping across different languages. Using the 2024 Taiwan presidential election as a case study and prompting as a method, the study audits responses from Microsoft Copilot in five languages. The findings reveal significant discrepancies in information readiness, content accuracy, norm adherence, source usage, and attribution behavior across languages. These results underscore the contextual awareness when applying accountability assessment that looks beyond transparency in AI-mediated communication, especially during politically sensitive events.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2025.
Keywords [en]
AI-mediated communication, algorithm audit, algorithmic accountability, digital infrastructure, election news, gatekeeping, GenAI chatbot, generative AI, Microsoft Copilot, quantitative content analysis, search engine
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-103727DOI: 10.1177/14614448251321162ISI: 001433972400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-86000719208OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-103727DiVA, id: diva2:1947974
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2022-05392Anne-Marie and Gustaf Anders Foundation for Media ResearchAvailable from: 2025-03-27 Created: 2025-03-27 Last updated: 2025-04-11Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(681 kB)29 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 681 kBChecksum SHA-512
f22966c22b6eaee6e33c9922338eb7e31b579eb183f98d3b2145d2acd453581d18ee2ec5dc5b3632a291cd7be53c38b77dd00860feed113016401a9c4540528a
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Kuai, JoanneBrantner, CorneliaKarlsson, MichaelVan Couvering, ElizabethRomano, Salvatore
By organisation
Department of Geography, Media and Communication (from 2013)
In the same journal
New Media and Society
Media and Communication Studies

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 29 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 20 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf