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Abstract
<jats:p>The mass spread of AI-generated fake news on social media platforms has become a challenging issue for users' mental health, societal trust, and behavioral patterns. While social media serves as powerful platform for mass communication, it also accelerates widespread dissemination of misinformation, especially with the help of AI-powered technologies, which are capable of generating and circulating fake news on an unprecedented scale on a daily basis. This study makes an attempt to examine the psycho-emotive effects of AI-generated fake news on social media users, focusing on the emotional responses, cognitive processes, and behavioral changes triggered by exposure to such content. A mixed-methods approach has been employed to collect data from social media users. The findings illustrate that AI-generated fake news can evoke feelings of anxiety, mistrust, and confusion, leading to decreased self-esteem, social withdrawal, and diminished trust in social institutions. Moreover, the findings clearly indicate that individuals with lower critical thinking skills are more susceptible to the negative psycho-emotive effects of AI-generated fake news. The study's outcomes highlight the need for developing strategies for suspending the spread of AI-generated fake news and promoting media literacy, critical thinking, and emotional resilience among social media users with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.</jats:p>