Search and Beyond: Information Behavior with Generative Artificial Intelligence

Authors

• Ryan M. Schuetzler, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Justin Scott Giboney, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Taylor M. Wells, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Benjamin Richardson, University of GeorgiaFollow
• Thomas Meservy, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Cole Sutton, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Clay Posey, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Jacob Steffen, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
• Amanda L. Hughes, Brigham Young UniversityFollow

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners across multiple disciplines have paid significant attention to the ways individuals search for and use information. As tools evolve, so do users’ strategies. For the last decade or more, research has focused on information-acquisition approaches via search engines. However, as more advanced tools built on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) have emerged, the way individuals search for information online has changed, which requires updates to previous information behavior models. We explore these changes by examining how 455 students at a university in the United States identified and attempted to satisfy information needs with a new generative AI tool— ChatGPT—during the first full semester of its public availability in early 2023. This new information behavior departs from previous search-focused models in that it underscores GenAI’s iterative nature and highlights the possibilities of human-machine interaction for information acquisition and generation. Specifically, we highlight four key informational needs that trigger a GenAI interaction (retrieval, generation, revision, and evaluation), and we identify three distinct ways (refinement, contextual, and reset) in which searchers iteratively interact with ChatGPT to arrive at the desired information—a phenomenon we term “cycling”.

DOI

10.17705/1thci.00241

Recommended Citation

Schuetzler, R. M., Giboney, J. S., Wells, T. M., Richardson, B., Meservy, T., Sutton, C., Posey, C., Steffen, J., & Hughes, A. L. (2026). Search and Beyond: Information Behavior with Generative Artificial Intelligence. AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, 18(2), 136-163. https://doi.org/10.17705/1thci.00241
DOI: 10.17705/1thci.00241