Ofcom report reveals one in five Britons uses AI to keep up with news
ChatGPT was the most popular AI tool for news, used by 13% of adults.
A new Ofcom report has revealed that one in five Britons are using artificial intelligence to stay informed on current affairs.
Listen to this article
The regulator’s 2026 News Report has detailed a “dramatic shift in how news is being distributed and consumed”, according to Ofcom.
It has reported that AI tools are now becoming a gateway to news consumption, finding that 21% of adults have used an AI app or service for this purpose in the past month.
Ofcom has also said this is concentrated among younger adults and people from more affluent households.
ChatGPT was the most popular AI tool for news, used by 13% of adults.
Read more: 'AI transformed my life but all I get is abuse for using it'
Read more: Tech stocks fall after calls for AI development to slow
Despite turning to AI, over half of adults – 56% – have also reported they are less trustful of an AI-written news story than one written by a person.
The report also found that social media and video-sharing platforms remain the most common intermediary route to news, used by 60% of adults in the past month, rising to 78% among both 16-24-year-olds and children aged 12-15.
While Facebook remains the most encountered platform for news – and was used by 39% of adults in the past month – YouTube is not far behind with 33%.
The gap between these two platforms has also halved since 2025.
However, very few people – just 2% – have said they rely on social media platforms exclusively for news.
Ofcom also noted that while social media, video-sharing platforms and AI are “important gateways to news, much of the content encountered via these channels still comes from established broadcasters”.
Ofcom’s director of market intelligence Ian Macrae said: “In today’s ‘always on’ environment, many people don’t go direct to the news, the news is coming to them through different online intermediaries, increasingly AI-enabled.
“But while audiences are discovering news in new ways, they remain discerning about the sources they trust, particularly in moments like elections, and public service media brands continue to play a vital role.
“Given the fundamental shifts rapidly taking hold across the news landscape, public service media must continue to evolve their distribution strategies to continue to meet audiences where they are, and ultimately, avoid getting drowned out by the noise.”
It was also estimated that adults spend 72 minutes each day consuming news, with almost three quarters – 73% – accessing news stories through online intermediaries – including social media, video-sharing platforms, search engines, news aggregators and AI tools.
In contrast, around six in 10 (57%) get their news directly through news publishers’ websites and apps.