Journalism in the age of AI. Why people prefer humans over machines

illustration: DALL-E

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents traditional media and journalism with a new challenge. According to the Generative AI and News Report 2025 published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, more than half of respondents from six countries believe that media frequently use AI. However, the report’s authors - Felix Simon, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, and Richard Fletcher - emphasize that only a small portion of the audience accepts full automation of news content.

In a study conducted by YouGov between June and July 2025 in Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the USA, the report’s authors analyzed how AI is perceived in the context of media. The results show a society at a crossroads - using AI tools but not ready to give up full control of information to them.

Only 12% want news created entirely by AI

The study shows a clear "comfort gap" between acceptance of news written by humans and those generated by machines. Only 12% of respondents feel comfortable with content created fully by AI. When a person controls the process, acceptance rises to 21%, and when a journalist leads with AI support - up to 43%. The largest share (62%) prefers news created entirely by humans.

Interestingly, the less visible the role of AI, the greater the acceptance. Users most often tolerate AI use for "editorial back-office" tasks:

• 55% accept AI use for improving grammar and spelling,
• 53% - for translations,
• only 30% - for rewriting content for different audiences,
• just 19% - for creating artificial presenters or authors.

There are no major demographic differences in these values, suggesting a general caution toward AI as a news "narrator".

People notice AI in newsrooms, but rarely in the content

In 2025, belief grew that journalists use generative AI. Respondents most often pointed to text editing, translation help, and headline creation as areas where AI is active. Still, 60% of audiences say they do not notice AI in their daily news consumption, possibly due to lack of labeling or subtle integration.

Only 19% of respondents see labels about AI use on a daily basis. When compared with the fact that 77% claim to use news daily, this shows a clear gap between actual exposure and perception. This raises questions about transparency in newsrooms.

Type of AI Use in Newsrooms	Public Acceptance
Grammar and spelling editing	55%
Translations	53%
Rewriting for audiences	30%
Artificial presenter or author	19%

Despite the growing use of AI in newsrooms, public trust in the process is still low. Only 33% of respondents believe journalists routinely check AI-generated content before publishing. This rate rises in Argentina (44%) and Japan (42%), but drops to just 25% in the United Kingdom.

Younger people use AI to understand the news

A new trend noted in the Generative AI and News Report 2025 is the growing use of AI as a tool to understand and interpret the news, especially among younger audiences. Although only 6% of all respondents use AI weekly for news purposes, as many as 48% of those aged 18-24 use generative tools to simplify news content. In comparison - only 27% of people aged 55+ seek such help.


Other ways AI is used in working with news:

• 54% ask about the latest news,
• 47% ask follow-up questions,
• 40% request content summaries,
• 37% evaluate information sources.

However, overall use of such functions remains niche, and society still sees AI more as a supporting tool than a source of knowledge.

Trust in AI is lower than in journalists

The authors of the report point out a clear difference in trust levels between traditional journalism and generative AI. In all six countries surveyed - except Argentina - trust in ChatGPT as a news source was lower than trust in traditional media.

AI Model	Trust Level
ChatGPT	29%
Google Gemini	18%
Microsoft Copilot	12%
Meta AI	12%

In this context, it is worth highlighting the UK, where only 25% of respondents believe journalists verify AI-generated content, and it is also the only country where more people say they distrust ChatGPT than trust it.

• People trust newsrooms more than bots.
• They expect more accountability from well-known brands.
• They still value human control over the publishing process.
• They are skeptical of automatic summaries and AI presenters.
• They notice the lack of clear labeling of AI-generated content.

Even though technology is advancing rapidly, traditional journalism has not been dethroned. It is trust and transparency that remain newsrooms’ greatest assets in the age of artificial intelligence.

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The "Generative AI and News Report 2025" was based on a study conducted by YouGov for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the University of Copenhagen. The online survey was carried out between June and July 2025 in six countries: Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the USA. The sample included about 2,000 people in each country and was selected to reflect the demographic structure of the population. The full text is available on the Reuters Institute website.