A for Effort, AI for No Effort: The Role of Perceived Effort in Evaluations of AI-Generated Health Messages

While generative AI (GenAI) is capable of providing high-quality health information, recent research consistently shows that individuals remain resistant to AI as a source of health communication. This study examines this resistance by investigating the role of perceived effort in evaluations of AI-generated health messages. Across two experimental studies (total N = 599) conducted in two health communication contexts (a health PSA and a medical website), results indicated that participants perceived that less effort had been invested in creating the health information when it was attributed to GenAI. This lower perceived effort, in turn, was associated with less favorable evaluations of the message, including perceived message effectiveness (Study 1) and message credibility (Study 2). Moreover, individuals’ AI experience moderated this relationship: as AI experience increased, the difference in perceived effort between AI and human sources narrowed and was no longer statistically significant at higher levels of AI experience (Study 2). Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.