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

Abstract

This report analyses 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 to chart public awareness, use, and views of generative AI in society and news. 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.