When AI speaks: user imaginaries of generative AI and freedom of expression

Abstract Platform societies already shape how users communicate, participate, and become visible. The rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), through systems such as ChatGPT and Grok, may further deepen these dynamics, introducing new and fundamental challenges to freedom of expression, including questions of authorship. However, despite the expanding reach of this technology, research on how users understand of GenAI’s influence on expressive freedom remains scarce. To address this gap, we conducted in-depth interviews with active GenAI users on the social media platform X, focusing on their experiences and reflections on using the technology in the context of freedom of expression. Using thematic analysis and the concept of GenAI imaginaries, we identified five imaginaries: (1) Pragmatic Tool, (2) Knowledge Authority, (3) Hybrid Speech, (4) Power Struggle, and (5) Ethical Issues. Together, these imaginaries show how participants make sense of GenAI’s role in changing how speech and expression are produced, constrained, and made visible. Participants imagined expressive freedom as being shaped by guardrails and content restrictions, trust and misinformation concerns, ethical issues, and automated content creation In particular, the Hybrid Speech imaginary illustrates how human and AI-generated expression increasingly intertwine, challenging the idea of speech as solely human-authored and raising questions about speaker autonomy, authorship, and accountability in public debate. Our findings contribute to debates on AI governance and freedom of expression by showing how users themselves understand GenAI as reshaping authorship, visibility, and expressions.