5 predictions for AI's growing role in the media in 2026

"For the past two years, I've written predictions for how AI will continue to change the media industry and the business of news in the coming year. Prognosticating is a risky business even at the most tranquil of times, and media's AI era is anything but: bots are multiplying, newsrooms are shrinking, and new business models always seem to be still developing."

"Last year, four of the five predictions I made came true, those being the spread of audio experiences like NotebookLM's audio overviews, a greater emphasis on content licensing, more "legit" AI-generated content, and publishers doing more with their own summarization and chatbots. I should have probably known my one strike was going to be agents-that was such a buzzword last year that I couldn't avoid including it, but it turns out there were significant barriers keeping agents outside the mainstream."

"But the reality is that the most impactful things happen when those trends slam into realities, such as Cloudflare taking a hard stance against AI ingesting publisher content without compensation or consequence. Who saw that coming? Despite an ever-growing set of lawsuits, the copyright issue is still largely unresolved. Publishers want compensation for how their content is ingested and used by AI companies, which continue to claim fair use. Sure, there are more licensing deals between the two sides, but the fundamental tension remains."

AI is accelerating transformation across the media and news industries, with bots proliferating, newsrooms shrinking, and new business models emerging. Four of five prior predictions came true, including the spread of audio overviews, increased emphasis on content licensing, the rise of more legitimate AI-generated content, and publishers deploying their own summarization tools and chatbots. Agents failed to reach mainstream adoption because of significant barriers such as data privacy concerns and complexity. The next phase is shaped by clashes between AI adoption and legal and commercial realities, exemplified by Cloudflare's stance against AI ingesting publisher content without compensation. Copyright disputes remain unresolved as publishers seek compensation while AI companies assert fair use.

Read at Fast Company