“Just Asking Questions”

Doing Our Own Research on Conspiratorial Ideation by Generative AI Chatbots

Bibliographic Data

ID17823262
AuthorsKatherine M Fitzgerald (0000-0002-1227-8689, Queensland University of Technology, corresponding author), Michelle Riedlinger (0000-0003-4402-4824, Queensland University of Technology), Axel Bruns (0000-0002-3943-133X, Queensland University of Technology), Stephen Harrington (0000-0001-5340-1906, Queensland University of Technology), Tiffany Graham (0000-0002-4053-9313, Queensland University of Technology), Timothy Graham, Daniel Angus (0000-0002-1412-5096, Queensland University of Technology)
Year2026
Volume14
Publication date2026-03-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedia and Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2183-2439 • E-ISSN: 2183-2439
PublisherCogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT)
DOI10.17645/mac.11337
OpenAlexW7133643098
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited35

Interactive chat systems that build on artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks are increasingly ubiquitous and embedded into search engines, Web browsers, and operating systems, or as standalone websites and apps. Researcher efforts have sought to understand the limitations and potential for harm of chatbots powered by generative AI, which we contribute to here. Conducting a systematic review of seven AI-powered chat systems (ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo; ChatGPT 4 Mini; Microsoft Copilot; Google Gemini Flash 1.5; Perplexity; and two versions of Grok), this study examines how these leading products respond to questions related to conspiracy theories. This work is inspired by the “platform policy implementation audit” approach established by Glazunova et al. (2023). We selected five well-known and comprehensively debunked conspiracy theories and four emerging conspiracy theories that relate to breaking news events at the time of data collection. Our findings demonstrate that the promotion of, or pushback against, conspiratorial ideas differ markedly, depending on the chatbot model and conspiracy theory. Our observations indicate that safety guardrails put in place by AI companies are often very selectively designed: appearing to focus especially on ensuring that their products are not seen to be racist; they also appear to pay particular attention to conspiracy theories that address topics of substantial national trauma such as 9/11 or relate to well-established political issues. Future work should include an ongoing effort extended to other chatbots, multiple languages, and a range of conspiracy theories extending well beyond the US

Chatbot · Generative grammar · Harm · Ideation · Politics · Situation awareness · AI in Service Interactions · Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education · Misinformation and Its Impacts

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