Youth increasingly turning to AI bots for news updates

• Almost half of 18-24 age group surveyed by Reuters Institute say social media is their main source of news
• TV, radio, newspapers losing ground to social networks, video-sharing platforms

PARIS: People are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a respected media report published on 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.

Text remains the most preferred way for people worldwide to consume news, although around a third say they prefer to watch the news online and 15 per cent say they prefer to listen.

Younger people are much more likely to prefer watching or listening to the news.

The trend is particularly acute among young Americans. Over half of people under age 35 in the US are relying on social media and video networks as their main source for news, the report found.

Across the countries that the report surveyed, 44pc of people aged 18 to 24 said these networks are their main source of news.

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 (27pc), translate (24pc) or recommend (21pc) 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.

In addition, the report found that prominent podcasters like Joe Rogan are playing a bigger role in news dissemination in the United States.

Traditional US news media increasingly risks being eclipsed by online personalities and creators.

One-fifth of a sampled group of Americans came across news or commentary from podcaster Rogan in the week following the presidential inauguration, the report found, while 14pc of respondents said they had come across former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson discussing or commenting on news during that period.

Despite their popularity, online influencers and personalities are seen as the biggest sources of false or misleading information worldwide, along with politicians, the report found. In the United States, politicians are considered the biggest sources of false or misleading information.

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.

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 23pc of people in the United States reported using X for news, up 8pc on 2024’s survey, with usage also rising in countries like Australia and Poland.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2025