Story highlights
- 7% say they rely on AI tools to get news and information
- AI ranks last among the sources Americans get the most news from
- Many Americans do not fully trust AI-assisted news reporting
WASHINGTON, DC — Seven percent of Americans say they rely on artificial intelligence tools “a lot” (2%) or “a lot” (5%) to get news and information. A further 12% say they rely on AI “somewhat” for news, and 23% say “a little”. The majority of U.S. adults (57%) do not rely on AI tools for this purpose at all.
Relying on AI tools to get news and information is slightly more common among adults ages 18-49 (10%) than adults ages 50 and older (3%), but a majority of both age groups say they don’t rely on AI at all to get their news.
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These results are based on a May 4-17 survey of 2,062 U.S. adults who are members of the Gallup panel.
AI ranks last as a source of information about news events
Another question placed AI at the bottom of the list of people’s primary sources of information about community, national, and international events.
Only 2% of Americans say an AI chatbot or assistant is one of their top three sources of news or information, matching the share (2%) who report using messaging apps for news. All major subgroups of U.S. adults report very low rates of AI as their primary news source.
AI is less likely to be chosen as a news source than print newspapers and magazines (8%), podcasts (13%), search engines (16%), and radio (17%).
The most common way Americans say they got their news in the past seven days is through social media (54%), followed by news websites or apps (44%). However, a large segment still relies on traditional broadcasters, with 28% relying primarily on network TV news and 20% relying on cable news. Additionally, 25% cite friends, family, and colleagues as their primary source of news.
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Many Americans do not fully trust AI-assisted news reporting
Although few Americans use AI tools as news sources, many in the media industry are beginning to consider and even adopt AI to create news reports. However, policies vary widely between publications.
When asked how they can increase trust when a news organization discloses that it uses AI to produce news content, nearly one in five Americans say it would increase trust if news consumers could verify the information themselves with another source (22%) or if the news organization said a human editor had verified the information (20%).
Approximately 1 in 10 say they would be more trustworthy if human journalists reported the facts (11%) and if AI was clearly disclosed (7%).
Meanwhile, a plurality of U.S. adults (39%) say the use of AI completely reduces their trust in information, suggesting there is nothing news organizations can do to gain public trust in AI-assisted reporting.
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Younger people are more likely than older people to use AI as a news source, but 18-49 year olds (43%) are more likely than 50 and older (34%) to say that their trust in information completely decreases when AI is used in news reporting.
With some variation, a plurality of all major subgroups in the US say the use of AI in news makes them less trustworthy in information.
conclusion
AI usage in the U.S. workplace was relatively low when Gallup first measured it in 2023, but has increased rapidly since then. The speed at which Americans are incorporating AI into their daily lives suggests that it may be here to stay in their news consumption as well. Perhaps it also has the support of a media industry that is responding to the AI adoption habits that Americans are forming in other countries. But so far, there is little use of AI in news consumption.
At the same time, these findings do not provide a clear path forward for news organizations seeking to leverage AI in reporting while maintaining public trust. Many Americans emphasize the importance of some form of verification in AI-driven news content, while others emphasize disclosure. However, four in 10 say the use of AI in reporting would undermine trust in news, posing a challenge for the news industry as it seeks to rebuild trust in news organizations after decades of decline while remaining competitive in a rapidly changing landscape.
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