People rate AI short stories higher, until told AI wrote them

In a study of more than 2,500 participants, readers could not distinguish ChatGPT-generated short stories from human-written ones, performing no better than chance. AI-generated stories were actually rated higher on average, but scores dropped once participants learned a machine had written them.

Why it matters: This isolates a pure bias effect: the rating drop happens after disclosure, not because of any detectable quality difference in the text itself. It's relevant to ongoing debate over AI-content labeling and detection, since readers can't reliably spot AI writing on their own, making disclosure and trust largely a policy question rather than a quality one.