AI-generated stories rated better quality than human-written ones, study finds

A recent study published in the journal Judgment and Decision Making suggests that AI-generated stories are rated as more engaging and of higher quality than those written by humans. In the research, 1,682 adults were asked to read one of six short stories, three of which were written by humans and three by the AI ChatGPT. Despite the stories having similar themes, participants who read the AI-generated stories rated them as more absorbing and of higher quality than those who read human-written stories.

However, participants who believed the stories were written by humans gave them higher ratings compared to those they believed were AI-generated. Dr. Deena Skolnick Weisberg, a senior author of the study and a creative writer herself, noted that while AI can generate stories at least as good as human-written ones, it does not mean that human authors are obsolete.

She emphasized that humans write for various reasons, including creative self-expression and making sense of experiences. The researchers also found that participants' attitudes towards AI played a role in their ratings, with those who had more positive attitudes giving higher scores to AI-generated stories. Two additional experiments involving 905 adults showed that participants struggled to distinguish between human-written and AI-generated stories, with only about 40% guessing correctly in one experiment and 52% in another.

The researchers concluded that while people may associate authenticity with human-written stories, they actually prefer AI-generated stories because they are easier to read and digest. However, AI technology remains a contentious issue, with some experts warning of its potential catastrophic impacts and questioning its value.