What does your audience think about AI? Ask them.

This is the second edition of Beyond the Byline, a column written by Indiegraf’s Entrepreneur in Residence for AI, Laura E. Davis. It focuses on highly actionable, no-nonsense strategies to help your newsroom stand out and thrive in an era of AI slop and eroding audience trust.

‍

It’s nearly impossible to avoid news about AI these days, so most people have likely formed an opinion about it one way or another. But do you know what your audience thinks of AI?

‍

In the first edition of Beyond the Byline, we encouraged you to take one easy step toward deepening your relationship—and trust—with your audience by enhancing staff bios across your newsroom. We’ll be sharing more strategies like this in the coming weeks, and you can optimize each of them if you know more about how your audience feels about AI.

‍

How to ask your audience about AI 

‍

For newsrooms, there are two main areas of concern when it comes to AI:

‍

1. What questions does your audience have about AI generally?
2. How do they view your newsroom’s current or potential use of the technology?

‍

The first question matters because more than 80% of people surveyed by Trusting News said that they’d welcome help from journalists to better understand AI, and a follow-up study found that AI literacy content can build trust in news.

‍

And getting the second question answered will help you develop and/or update your newsroom’s AI policy.

‍

A simple template for asking about AI

‍

And when we say “anything,” we mean anything. Just get the conversation started. Here’s a simple template:

‍

• Question: What questions do you have about AI?
• Context (if you have room): Our reporters are experts in getting answers to tough questions, and the topic of AI is no different. Whether you want to know how the technology works, how it will affect [REGION/TOWN/AREA OR TOPIC COVERED] or how to detect AI-generated content, [ORGANIZATION NAME] is here to help.

‍

You can use this template in a newsletter or in stories that discuss AI, or you can share it as a poll on social media. And of course, Indiegraf OS is here to help you deepen engagement with your audience. Here are some features you can use to collect data:

‍

• Hearken: If your newsroom has access to Hearken, then put it to work for questions about AI. You can use the template above or write more specific questions. (Get inspiration for how to approach these questions by using this guide.) Once you have your question(s) ready, follow these steps to create and embed the form on your website. (If you don’t have access to Hearken and would like to learn more, simply book a chat to speak with our team.)
• Indie Website forms: You can build forms right in Indiegraf OS. Just navigate to “Forms” in the Indie Website menu and follow the steps in this guide.

‍

Bonus: If you want to survey your audience about their attitudes toward AI use in your newsroom, you don’t even have to write the questions. Trusting News has some questions you can use here, and they even offer a ready-made survey you can customize and share. And if you want extra credit, you can do community interviews on AI. Trusting News’ guide for that is here.