What Does the Public Think of Generative AI (in the News)?

Discussions of AI frequently overlook what audiences actually make of the technology – and how they use it and think about it in the context of information, news and society. This talk presents findings from nationally representative YouGov surveys (c. 2,000 respondents per country, fielded 5 June–15 July 2025) in Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the UK, and the US which chart public awareness, use, and views of generative AI in society and news. We find that awareness of AI systems is now near‑universal and weekly use has almost doubled year‑on‑year (18%→34%), with ChatGPT leading and information‑seeking overtaking media creation as the primary use. AI‑generated search answers are widely encountered, but trust is moderate and conditional. Use of AI to get news has doubled from a low base (3%→6%). Across sectors, the public expects extensive AI use yet is ambivalent about societal effects. In journalism, a clear ‘comfort gap’ remains: people favour human‑led workflows and back‑end uses (editing, translation) and expect cheaper, faster but less transparent and less trustworthy news if AI plays a larger role.

Dr Felix Simon is a communication researcher and Research Fellow in AI and Digital News at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and a Research Associate and former doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute. Felix’s research seeks to understand the structural implications of artificial intelligence for news organisations’ gatekeeping processes.

Dr Richard Fletcher is Director of Research and Deputy Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. He is lead researcher and co-author of the Digital News Report – the world’s largest annual survey of global news consumption. His research is focussed on global trends in digital news consumption and the relationship between technology and journalism.