The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Digital Media Consumption

Abstract

The widespread application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to digital media spaces altered both the quality of the content curation and personalization and the interaction between users and the content. One should know how it affects the consumption patterns, user awareness, and user perceptions to navigate the evolving world of digital. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine how AI affects the formation of digital media consumption with several objectives to determine the awareness of users, the behavioural impact, perceptions and concerns, and the overall effect on convenience and dependency.

Quantitative research design was used, and a structured online survey was used among a sample of 320 users of digital media. Data analysis was done using the descriptive statistics as a means of summarizing demographic features and important variables and the results were presented graphically using bar charts. The results show that the awareness of users regarding the application of AI is high as 78.1% of the participants acknowledge the usage of AI in platforms. AI has a huge effect on behaviour with 71.9% indicating that it had more time on media because of recommendations and 72.5% indicating that it had an impact on their entertainment decisions. Although three out of four (79.1) were in agreement with the idea of AI making things more convenient and enhancing the experience, there have been serious questions about privacy (64%), diversity of content (63.2%), and the bias of the algorithm (64.1%). A resounding majority (79.1) demanded increased openness in the activities of AI.

AI is a revolutionary impact in digital media increasing personalization and user satisfaction, at the same time creating dependency and ethical issues. The paper concludes that an ethically transparent, user-centric, and digitally literate comprehensive approach is necessary when integrating AI into future digital ecosystems.

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