Research highlights growing use of AI chatbots for news
Publishers face growing concerns that AI-generated answers could reduce traffic to original reporting by keeping users within chatbot environments.
The growing use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini is beginning to reshape how audiences discover, access and engage with news, according to new research. While still representing a minority behaviour, usage is expanding rapidly across global markets, particularly among younger audiences and highly engaged news consumers.
Weekly use of AI chatbots for news has increased in recent years, although only around 1% of users currently identify them as their primary news source. Engagement is highest among news-interested and politically active users, while trust remains low overall but is higher among those already using AI tools.
Survey data suggests that users primarily turn to chatbots to ask follow-up questions, simplify complex stories, summarise information and evaluate the reliability of sources. Motivations include speed, clarity, and deeper contextual understanding, reflecting a shift toward more interactive and personalised news consumption.
The findings also raise concerns for publishers, as AI chatbots can answer user queries directly within their interfaces, potentially reducing referral traffic to news websites. Although search engines and social media remain the dominant sources of referral traffic, AI-powered ‘answer engines’ may push news organisations to invest more heavily in original reporting, verification and distinctive content that is harder to replicate through automated summaries.
Why does it matter?
The findings point to a significant shift in the digital information ecosystem. AI chatbots are changing how people discover and consume news by replacing traditional search and feed-based navigation with conversational interfaces that provide direct answers, summaries and contextual explanations.
This trend has important implications for journalism and platform governance. If users increasingly obtain information through AI intermediaries rather than visiting publisher websites directly, news organisations could face declining traffic, reduced advertising revenues and lower visibility for original reporting. At the same time, AI platforms may gain greater influence over how information is selected, interpreted and presented, raising questions about transparency, attribution, accuracy and media pluralism in the digital age.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our chatbot!