"The Image Should be Based on the Story, the Story not on the Image" : Moderating the Use of Generative AI for the Promotion of Meaning-Making

Meaning derived from a past nature experience can benefit well-being, possibly due to feelings of connectedness to nature. Digital nature can be used to make people feel connected to nature and openness to experience might influence the meaning made using this tool. Young adults seem to be the most proliferate meaning-makers, as it would improve their mental well-being. In this research, the aim was to investigate the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) for meaning-making. 48 young adults retrieved a meaningful nature experience in one of two storytelling conditions, either with or without personalized AI images. Interactions of state connectedness to nature and openness to experience were assessed. Against the expectations, it was found that digital nature images did not affect meaning-making or connectedness to nature. Surprisingly, results even suggest that state connectedness to nature might decrease as a consequence of AI nature images. Openness to experience had no influence on these processes. To conclude, AI might lack a part of lived human experience, making it less suitable for reviving meaningful nature experiences. Perhaps, the use of digital nature is limited to emergency situations, such as the pandemic lockdown.