  We conducted an in-person ethnography in India and the US to investigate how
young people (18-24) trusted online content, with a focus on generative AI
(GenAI). We had four key findings about how young people use GenAI and
determine what to trust online. First, when online, we found participants
fluidly shifted between mindsets and emotional states, which we term
"information modes." Second, these information modes shaped how and why
participants trust GenAI and how they applied literacy skills. In the modes
where they spent most of their time, they eschewed literacy skills. Third, with
the advent of GenAI, participants imported existing trust heuristics from
familiar online contexts into their interactions with GenAI. Fourth, although
study participants had reservations about GenAI, they saw it as a requisite
tool to adopt to keep up with the times. Participants valued efficiency above
all else, and used GenAI to further their goals quickly at the expense of
accuracy. Our findings suggest that young people spend the majority of their
time online not concerned with truth because they are seeking only to pass the
time. As a result, literacy interventions should be designed to intervene at
the right time, to match users' distinct information modes, and to work with
their existing fact-checking practices.
