Researchers have defined and analysed seven distinct roles that AI can play in the information environment, its potential and pitfalls.
Generative AI, which can create and analyse text, images and other content on the basis of instructions, can be used to combat misinformation. However, it can also exacerbate the problem by producing convincing manipulations that are difficult to detect and can quickly be copied and disseminated on a wide scale. In a new study, researchers have defined seven distinct roles that AI can play in the information environment and analysed each role in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks.
“One important point is that generative AI has not just one but several functions in combating misinformation. The technology can be anything from information support and educational resource to a powerful influencer. We therefore need to identify and discuss the opportunities, risks and responsibilities associated with AI and we need to create more effective policies,” says Thomas Nygren, Professor at Uppsala University, who conducted the study together with colleagues at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Western Australia.
From fact-checking to influence – same capacity has double-edged effects
The study is an overview in which researchers from a range of scholarly disciplines have reviewed the latest research on how generative AI can be used in various parts of the information environment. These uses range from providing information and supporting fact-checking to influencing opinion and designing educational interventions, and the study considers the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks associated with each use.
The researchers chose to work with a SWOT framework as this leads to a more practical basis for decisions than general assertions that ‘AI is good’ or ‘AI is dangerous’. A system can be helpful in one role (such as fact-checking) but harmful in another (for example, as an influencer). Analysing each role using SWOT can help decision-makers, schools and platforms discuss the right measures for the right risk.
AI can serve several functions
“The roles emerged from a process of analysis where we started out from the perception that generative AI is not a simple ‘solution’ but a technology that can serve several functions at the same time. We identified recurrent patterns in the way AI is used to obtain information, to detect and manage problems, to influence people, to support collaboration and learning, and to design interactive training environments. These functions were summarised in seven roles,” Nygren explains.
The seven roles that the researchers identified as their research evolved were informer, guardian, persuader, integrator, collaborator, teacher and playmaker (see the fact box). The point of the roles is that they serve as a checklist: they help us to see when AI is primarily informing, when it is monitoring, and when it is actually influencing – requiring different types of transparency, control and responsibility. Each role can contribute to strengthening the resilience of society to misinformation, but each also entails specific vulnerabilities. The researchers therefore analysed each role using a SWOT approach: what strengths and opportunities it embodies, but also what weaknesses and threats need to be managed.
“AI must be implemented responsibly”
“We show how generative AI can produce dubious content yet can also detect and counteract misinformation on a large scale. However, risks such as hallucinations, in other words, that AI comes out with ‘facts’ that are wrong, reinforcement of prejudices and misunderstandings, and deliberate manipulation mean that the technology has to be implemented responsibly. Clear policies are therefore needed on the permissible use of AI.”
The researchers particularly underline the need for:
“The analysis shows that generative AI can be valuable for promoting important knowledge in school that is needed to uphold democracy and protect us from misinformation, but having said that, there is a risk that excessive use could be detrimental for the development of knowledge and make us lazy and ignorant and therefore more easily fooled. Consequently, with the rapid pace of developments, it’s important to constantly scrutinise the roles of AI as ‘teacher’ and ‘collaborator’, like the other five roles, with a critical and constructive eye,” Nygren emphasises.
Behavioral Science & Policy
Systematic review
Not applicable
The seven roles of generative AI: Potential & pitfalls in combatting misinformation
13-Feb-2026