• by Ray Schultz , May 30, 2024

Consumers worldwide are aware of generative AI. But many have not heard of the most popular AI tools, and few have used AI for news consumption, according to a study, "AI and the Future of News: What Does the Public In Six Countries Think of Generative AI in News?” published by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, conducted by YouGov. 

Only 5% have used generative AI to get the latest news, although that rises to 10% in the U.S.

However, 24% have used generative AI to get information. And 28% have utilized it to create various kinds of media, including text, audio, code, images, and video.

In general, people are uncomfortable with use of generative AI for hard news topics such as international affairs by a 21% gap and by a 33% differential for politics. In contrast, they favor usage for soft news topics such as fashion by a 7% gap.

But they want disclosure of AI use for:

• Editing the spelling and grammar of an article—32%
• Writing a headline—35%
• Writing the text of an article—47%
• Data analysis—47%

ChatGPT is by far the most famous product across all the countries studied, far outpacing tools like Google Gemini (formerly Bard) and Microsoft Copilot. In the U.S., 53% are aware of it, but the U.S. lags behind Denmark (61%), the UK (58%), Japan (56%) and France (55%).

Younger people are much more likely to use generative AI products on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, 51% expect generative AI to have a large impact on political parties, 66% on news media and 66% on science over the next five years.