Poll finds public turning to AI bots for news updates
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Tech-fueled misinformation distorts Iran-Israel fighting
The information warfare unfolding alongside ground combat -- sparked by Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and military leadership -- underscores a digital crisis in the age of rapidly advancing AI tools that have blurred the lines between truth and fabrication. The surge in wartime misinformation has exposed an urgent need for stronger detection tools, experts say, as major tech platforms have largely weakened safeguards by scaling back content moderation and reducing reliance on human fact-checkers. After Iran struck Israel with barrages of missiles last week, AI-generated videos falsely claimed to show damage inflicted on Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport. The videos were widely shared across Facebook, Instagram and X. Using a reverse image search, AFP's fact-checkers found that the clips were originally posted by a TikTok account that produces AI-generated content. There has been a "surge in generative AI misinformation, specifically related to the Iran-Israel conflict," Ken Jon Miyachi, founder of the Austin-based firm BitMindAI, told AFP. "These tools are being leveraged to manipulate public perception, often amplifying divisive or misleading narratives with unprecedented scale and sophistication." 'Photo-realism' GetReal Security, a US company focused on detecting manipulated media including AI deepfakes, also identified a wave of fabricated videos related to the Israel-Iran conflict. The company linked the visually compelling videos -- depicting apocalyptic scenes of war-damaged Israeli aircraft and buildings as well as Iranian missiles mounted on a trailer -- to Google's Veo 3 AI generator, known for hyper-realistic visuals. The Veo watermark is visible at the bottom of an online video posted by the news outlet Tehran Times, which claims to show "the moment an Iranian missile" struck Tel Aviv. "It is no surprise that as generative-AI tools continue to improve in photo-realism, they are being misused to spread misinformation and sow confusion," said Hany Farid, the co-founder of GetReal Security and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Farid offered one tip to spot such deepfakes: the Veo 3 videos were normally eight seconds in length or a combination of clips of a similar duration. "This eight-second limit obviously doesn't prove a video is fake, but should be a good reason to give you pause and fact-check before you re-share," he said. The falsehoods are not confined to social media. Disinformation watchdog NewsGuard has identified 51 websites that have advanced more than a dozen false claims -- ranging from AI-generated photos purporting to show mass destruction in Tel Aviv to fabricated reports of Iran capturing Israeli pilots. Sources spreading these false narratives include Iranian military-linked Telegram channels and state media sources affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, NewsGuard said. 'Control the narrative' "We're seeing a flood of false claims and ordinary Iranians appear to be the core targeted audience," McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher with NewsGuard, told AFP. Sadeghi described Iranian citizens as "trapped in a sealed information environment," where state media outlets dominate in a chaotic attempt to "control the narrative." Iran itself claimed to be a victim of tech manipulation, with local media reporting that Israel briefly hacked a state television broadcast, airing footage of women's protests and urging people to take to the streets. Adding to the information chaos were online clips lifted from war-themed video games. AFP's fact-checkers identified one such clip posted on X, which falsely claimed to show an Israeli jet being shot down by Iran. The footage bore striking similarities to the military simulation game Arma 3. Israel's military has rejected Iranian media reports claiming its fighter jets were downed over Iran as "fake news." Chatbots such as xAI's Grok, which online users are increasingly turning to for instant fact-checking, falsely identified some of the manipulated visuals as real, researchers said. "This highlights a broader crisis in today's online information landscape: the erosion of trust in digital content," BitMindAI's Miyachi said. "There is an urgent need for better detection tools, media literacy, and platform accountability to safeguard the integrity of public discourse." burs-ac/jgc
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
The French government is stepping in to rescue Eutelsat
On Friday, June 20, President Emmanuel Macron is expected at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget and aims to make the event a turning point for France and Europe's space strategy. "We are witnessing a dramatic acceleration of the space sector" that "is being privatized at breakneck speed with extremely ambitious projects, especially from the Americans, but also from Chinese players." It is also "becoming militarized very, very quickly," explained an Élysée adviser ahead of the president's midday speech from the "Paris Space Hub" – the Le Bourget hall devoted entirely to the sector. The war in Ukraine has highlighted Europe's dependence on Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite communications network. "Europe needs to "act independently, not be dependent on external solutions," the Élysée acknowledged. In this context, the government announced on June 19 that it would strengthen the state's stake in Eutelsat, the French satellite operator whose low-Earth orbit constellation is, for now, the only viable European alternative to Starlink. To achieve this, France's State Participation Agency (APE, the government's shareholdings agency) will take a major share in Eutelsat's €1.35 billion capital increase; the APE alone will contribute €717 million. At the same time, it will purchase the 13.6% stake currently held by Bpifrance, bringing its total holding to 29.9% – just below the threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover bid for the entire company.
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- LeMonde
Kevin Durant buys minority stake in PSG, eyes global expansion with Qatari owners
NBA star Kevin Durant has purchased a minority stake in Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain, the French soccer club said Friday, June 20. Qatar Sports Investments, PSG's majority shareholder, signed an investment and strategic partnership agreement with Durant, the club said in a statement. Financial terms were not disclosed. The announcement comes amid talks between the NBA, FIBA and other entities about the potential of adding a new league in Europe. Durant will provide expertise on the PSG's multi-port strategy, including potential expansion into basketball, the club said. "Under the terms of the partnership, Durant – via his media and investment company Boardroom, co-founded with long-time business partner Rich Kleiman – will acquire a direct minority stake in the club," PSG's statement said. The Phoenix Suns forward is a two-time NBA champion and became the first four-time men's gold medalist in Olympic basketball history when the US took gold at last summer's Paris Games . "It is an honor to partner with QSI and be a shareholder in Paris Saint-Germain – a club and city that is deeply close to my heart," the 36-year-old Durant said in comments provided by PSG. "This club has big plans and I look forward to being part of the next phase of growth and exploring new investment opportunities with QSI." As part of the deal, Boardroom Sports Holdings – Durant's personal investment vehicle, which holds stakes in a number of major sports teams and leagues – and QSI will join forces on a wide range of commercial, investment and content production initiatives. PSG added that Durant will support the club's diversification and growth strategy, as well as the club's development in the US and other international markets. "Together with Kevin, we look forward to developing ambitious initiatives that will drive the continued global growth of Paris Saint-Germain and QSI," PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi said.
