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The Impact of AI-Generated Content on Trust and Authenticity in Social Media Communication: A Study of Three Australian Case Studies

The robust growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI), especially large language models and image-generation systems, has greatly shaped communication practices on social media. In this context, AI-generated content has become widely adopted by businesses, media organizations, influencers, and individual users to efficiently create text, images, videos, and interactive content. While these technologies boost creativity and communication productivity, they also introduce ethical concerns regarding transpar…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourcePeer-reviewedTRV-2026-2132· cite & verify
The Impact of AI-Generated Content on Trust and Authenticity in Social Media Communication: A Study of Three Australian Case Studies
Towards the Science of Essential Decentralised Infrastructures by Johan Pouwelse. CC BY 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

In brief

A qualitative interpretive study examined three Australian episodes involving AI-generated material on social media: the Georgie Purcell AI image controversy, the AI-generated Aboriginal Steve Irwin incident, and the Jeanswest AI-generated advertising backlash. The authors drew on academic literature, news reports, organizational statements and public responses, and read the cases through principles of transparency, accountability, fairness and human oversight.

The findings matter because generative tools are now used widely by businesses, media organizations, influencers and ordinary users, so the way audiences judge what is real is shifting. The study argues that trust depends on clear disclosure, governance and human oversight. Because it relies on three cases and secondary sources, it cannot show how common these trust effects are or how large they are.

Main points

  1. The study uses a qualitative interpretive case approach built on three Australian cases of AI-generated content.
  2. Evidence comes from secondary sources: academic literature, news reports, organizational statements and public responses.
  3. Analysis applies four AI ethics principles: transparency, accountability, fairness and human oversight.
  4. Generative AI improves efficiency and personalization but disrupts how audiences assess authenticity.
  5. Sustaining credibility is said to require stronger governance, platform transparency and human oversight.

The problem

AI-generated content disrupts how audiences judge authenticity, raising concerns over transparency, misinformation and public trust, as seen in three Australian controversies.

The rundown

The paper starts from the rapid growth of generative AI, including large language models and image-generation systems, which businesses, media organizations, influencers and individual users now employ to produce text, images, videos and interactive content more efficiently.

Its three cases cover different settings: a controversy over an AI-altered image involving Georgie Purcell, an AI-generated depiction labelled Aboriginal Steve Irwin, and a backlash against AI-generated advertising by the retailer Jeanswest. Together they illustrate how synthetic content can provoke public reaction.

The authors conclude that public trust relies on transparent AI disclosure, ethical governance and responsible practices, and that sustainable integration of AI in communication needs stronger governance, platform transparency and human oversight.

Sources

  1. Peer-reviewedCommunications in Humanities Research2026-10-20

The debate