Ofcom asked UK adults for the first time whether they'd used AI to get news, and 21% said yes for the past month. Among 25 to 34-year-olds it was 37%. ChatGPT led, with 13% of all respondents using it for current events. Ofcom interviewed 5,397 UK adults for the report.
News now reaches people through what Ofcom calls online intermediaries: search engines, aggregators, AI, social media and video. These take 37% of news time, while publisher websites get eight minutes a day on average. Yet people still rate news from broadcast, print and radio as more accurate and trustworthy than news from digital platforms, including AI.
For a brand, that changes what a press hit is worth. Fewer people click through to the article, but the AI tools they use read and repeat trusted outlets. Coverage in a credible publication now travels further than its own website. Know your avatars, then where they get their news, then pitch there.