Generative AI and News Report 2025: How People Think about AI’s Role in Journalism and Society

Abstract

The report analyses how people in six countries perceive and use generative AI technologies, especially in the context of journalism. Based on a large-scale survey conducted in mid-2025, it shows rapidly expanding public adoption of AI systems, growing awareness of major AI brands, and rising weekly usage. People increasingly rely on AI for information retrieval, while media creation use remains limited. Trust in generative AI tools is moderate and concentrated in a few major brands. The study also documents how frequently people encounter AI-generated search answers, how they evaluate trustworthiness, and how perceptions vary between age groups. In journalism, the public expresses a strong preference for human-led content, with limited comfort toward fully AI-generated news. They support back-end uses of AI but are sceptical about front-facing applications. Expectations of AI’s societal impact vary across sectors, with optimism in healthcare and science and strong pessimism toward political actors and news media. The findings offer an evidence-based understanding of how generative AI is reshaping public attitudes, media practices, and information ecosystems.