AI Chatbots Emerge as New Source for News Consumption, Especially Among Youth

Poll finds public turning to AI bots for news updates

Paris (AFP) - People are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a respected media report published Tuesday found. The yearly survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found "for the first time" that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates, director Mitali Mukherjee wrote. Attached to Britain's Oxford University, the Reuters Institute annual report is seen as unmissable for people following the evolution of media. Just seven percent of people report using AI to find news, according to the poll of 97,000 people in 48 countries, carried out by YouGov. But the proportion is higher among the young, at 12 percent of under-35s and 15 percent of under-25s. The biggest-name chatbot -- OpenAI's ChatGPT -- is the most widely used, followed by Google's Gemini and Meta's Llama. Respondents appreciated relevant, personalised news from chatbots. Many more used AI to summarise (27 percent), translate (24 percent) or recommend (21 percent) articles, while almost one in five asked questions about current events. Distrust remains, with those polled on balance saying AI risked making the news less transparent, less accurate and less trustworthy. Rather than being programmed, today's powerful AI "large language models" (LLMs) are "trained" on vast quantities of data from the web and other sources -- including news media like text articles or video reports. Once trained, they are able to generate text and images in response to users' natural-language queries. But they present problems including "hallucinations" -- the term used when AI invents information that fits patterns in their training data but is not true. Scenting a chance at revenue in a long-squeezed market, some news organisations have struck deals to share their content with developers of AI models. Agence France-Presse (AFP) allows the platform of French AI firm Mistral to access its archive of news stories going back decades. Other media have launched copyright cases against AI makers over alleged illegal use of their content, for example the New York Times against ChatGPT developer OpenAI. News still a draw for X The Reuters Institute report also pointed to traditional media -- TV, radio, newspapers and news sites -- losing ground to social networks and video-sharing platforms. Almost half of 18-24-year-olds report that social media like TikTok is their main source of news, especially in emerging countries like India, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand. The institute found that many are still using Elon Musk-owned social media platform X for news, despite a rightward shift since the world's richest man took it over. "Many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently," the authors wrote. Some 23 percent of people in the United States reported using X for news, up eight percent on 2024's survey, with usage also rising in countries like Australia and Poland. By contrast, "rival networks like Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon are making little impact globally, with reach of two percent or less for news", the Reuters Institute found.

India Witnesses Shift Towards AI-Generated News Consumption: Reuters Institute | AIM

About 27% of respondents preferred summarised articles, while 24% favoured translations, indicating a growing demand for personalised content among youth. India has seen a massive shift towards AI-generated and social media for news consumption, which is "supercharging a fragmented alternative media environment", the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 stated. According to the study, interest in AI personalisation is highest for quicker and more relevant news content. Specifically, 27% of respondents prefer summarised articles, and 24% prefer translations. Notably, about 7% of people worldwide and 15% of the Gen Z population use AI chatbots for news. In India, while specific data is lacking, usage is likely rising among those aged under 25 due to the young, tech-savvy population and AI integration by platforms like Google and Microsoft. The news industry has faced challenges with personalisation, as audiences worry about missing essential stories and enjoy content beyond their primary interests. However, generative AI revitalises the conversation by enhancing story formats and selection. India's news consumption is shifting towards AI-driven, video-first formats, especially on YouTube. While AI largely operates in the background through recommendations and summarisation, front-line AI interfaces like chatbots are currently rare but are anticipated to grow. AI-powered content personalisation algorithms are widely used today, though users may not always realise that they interact with these systems. According to the survey, 55% of Indian respondents have increasingly used YouTube for news. Publishers and content creators have also begun using GenAI to assist in creating multilingual summaries and generating engaging headlines, captions, and voiceovers. However, there remains a broad distrust of AI-only news content due to concerns about authenticity and bias. The study indicates that utility-driven features such as translation or summarisation enjoy greater trust when AI is used as a support tool. India's diverse linguistic landscape, with over 22 official languages, requires AI models to extend beyond English and Hindi. This has led to local innovations in fine-tuning large language models through partnerships between startups, language tech platforms, and publishers. In India, chatbots for news are still in the early stages of development and are primarily driven by platforms like WhatsApp and voice assistants. Their usage is anticipated to grow significantly among the Gen Z population in the near future. Messaging apps like WhatsApp are generally seen as less threatening since discussions occur within trusted groups. However, in India, which is the largest market for WhatsApp, fake news has incited mob violence and resulted in deaths. As per the report, the overall interest in chatbots for questions is also low at 18%, likely due to their emerging nature. While few are interested in a single option, 66% are open to at least one possibility. The public is curious about how AI can enhance their news experience, even if they are unsure of what that looks like.

More people turning to AI bots for news: Poll

More people are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) bots and search functions for news coverage or to verify information they suspect may be false, according to a new study. The annual Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism report found people are turning to chatbots for news "for the first time," with nearly 1 in 10 consumers globally using an AI bot to "check something important in the news online that they suspected might be false." A plurality of respondents in the survey, 38 percent, said they would go to "a news source" they trust to check something they see in the news while 35 percent said they would turn to an official source, like a government website. Search engines (33 percent) and fact-checking websites (25 percent) also ranked highly as tools to verify information, while nearly 1 in 5 said they'd turn to someone they know and roughly the same percentage would rely on comments from others. Seventeen percent said they would look to Wikipedia for verifiable information, and 14 percent indicated they would use social media to check info. Among those specifically searching online to double-check information, 26 percent of respondents said they would turn to Wikipedia to verify information -- the same percentage as those who listed traditional news outlets and journalists. The survey found younger people were much more likely than older respondents to rely on AI chatbots, social media and comments from others, with those 18-34 nearly twice as likely as older adults to utilize AI bots. Use of bots was comparable across political leanings. The report comes as more major news outlets are signing partnership deals with AI providers and turning away from social media platforms as a vehicle for driving traffic to web pages and earning advertising revenue. Media academics and journalism experts have been warning for years about the potential threats AI poses to the news business, particularly local and breaking news coverage.

Poll finds public turning to AI bots for news updates

A recent annual survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has revealed that, for the first time, a large number of people are turning to chatbots for news headlines and updates. The survey says that OpenAI's ChatGPT is the most popular, with Google's Gemini and Meta's Llama also being widely used.People are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a respected media report published Tuesday found. The yearly survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found "for the first time" that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates, director Mitali Mukherjee wrote. Attached to Britain's Oxford University, the Reuters Institute annual report is seen as unmissable for people following the ways the media is changing. Just 7% of people report using AI to find news, according to the Institute's poll of 97,000 people in 48 countries, carried out by YouGov. But the proportion is higher among the young, at 12% of under-35s and 15% of under-25s. The biggest-name chatbot -- OpenAI's ChatGPT -- is the most widely used, followed by Google's Gemini and Meta's Llama. Respondents appreciated relevant, personalised news from chatbots. Many more used AI to summarise (27%), translate (24%) or recommend (21%) articles, while almost one in five asked questions about current events. Distrust remains, with those polled on balance saying AI risked making the news less transparent, less accurate and less trustworthy. Rather than being programmed, today's powerful AI "large language models" (LLMs) are "trained" on vast quantities of data from the web and other sources -- including news media like text articles or video reports. Once trained, they are able to generate text and images in response to users' natural-language queries. But they present problems including "hallucinations", the term used when AI invents information that fits patterns in their training data but is not true. Scenting a chance at revenue in a long-squeezed market, some news organisations have struck deals to share their content with developers of AI models. Agence France-Presse (AFP) allows the Mistral model from the French company of the same name to access its archive of news stories going back decades. Other media have launched copyright cases against AI makers over alleged illegal use of their content, for example the New York Times against ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Away from AI, the Reuters Institute report pointed to traditional media -- TV, radio, newspapers and news sites -- losing ground to social networks and video-sharing platforms. Almost half of 18-24-year-olds report that social media like TikTok is their main source of news, especially in emerging countries like India, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand. The shift in news consumption habits has hit outlets' bottom lines. Tuesday's report said it has also given a leg-up to politicians like US President Donald Trump or Argentina's Javier Milei, who have been able to talk past traditional gatekeepers to reach voters directly.

Young people are turning to ChatGPT and Gemini for their daily news fix - VnExpress International

More people are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT for their daily news, a global media survey has found. The yearly survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, published Tuesday, found "for the first time" that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates, director Mitali Mukherjee wrote. Attached to Britain's Oxford University, the Reuters Institute annual report is seen as unmissable for people following the evolution of media. Just 7% of people report using AI to find news, according to the poll of 97,000 people in 48 countries, carried out by YouGov. But the proportion is higher among the young, at 12% of under-35s and 15% of under-25s. The biggest-name chatbot -- OpenAI's ChatGPT -- is the most widely used, followed by Google's Gemini and Meta's Llama. Respondents appreciated relevant, personalized news from chatbots. Many more used AI to summarize (27%), translate (24%) or recommend (21%) articles, while almost one in five asked questions about current events. Distrust remains, with those polled on balance saying AI risked making the news less transparent, less accurate and less trustworthy. Rather than being programmed, today's powerful AI "large language models" (LLMs) are "trained" on vast quantities of data from the web and other sources -- including news media like text articles or video reports. Once trained, they are able to generate text and images in response to users' natural-language queries. But they present problems including "hallucinations" -- the term used when AI invents information that fits patterns in their training data but is not true. Scenting a chance at revenue in a long-squeezed market, some news organizations have struck deals to share their content with developers of AI models. Agence France-Presse (AFP) allows the platform of French AI firm Mistral to access its archive of news stories going back decades. Other media have launched copyright cases against AI makers over alleged illegal use of their content, for example the New York Times against ChatGPT developer OpenAI. News still a draw for X The Reuters Institute report also pointed to traditional media -- TV, radio, newspapers and news sites -- losing ground to social networks and video-sharing platforms. Almost half of 18-24-year-olds report that social media like TikTok is their main source of news, especially in emerging countries like India, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand. The institute found that many are still using Elon Musk-owned social media platform X for news, despite a rightward shift since the world's richest man took it over. "Many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently," the authors wrote. Some 23% of people in the United States reported using X for news, up 8% on 2024's survey, with usage also rising in countries like Australia and Poland. By contrast, "rival networks like Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon are making little impact globally, with reach of 2% or less for news", the Reuters Institute found.