"As we enter 2026, and the third year since the transformative release of ChatGPT, journalists and media managers are wondering what the next frontier for generative AI and the news will be. We got in touch with some of the most prominent voices working in this space (and put out an open call to our audience) to get a sense of what this year might bring."
"An obvious and important caveat: neither our respondents nor we have a crystal ball, and nobody knows for sure what the future holds. Nonetheless, we found five recurring themes in their forecasts: Audiences will increasingly access news through AI There will be increased demand for verification work Automation and agents will reshape newsrooms Newsrooms will upskill and build AI infrastructure AI will further empower data journalists"
"There were additional themes that came up in the audience responses, but not in our expert submissions. These include the idea that AI will take on a role in commissioning and setting the news agenda, changes in business models to cope with a collapse in direct traffic to news websites, and a shift in trust and authority from brands to individuals."
Generative AI is shifting how audiences access news toward chatbots, AI search and personalized agents. Verification demand will grow as AI-generated content increases and provenance becomes harder to trace. Automation and autonomous agents will change newsroom workflows and routine production, altering roles and processes. Newsrooms will invest in staff upskilling and build AI infrastructure and governance to deploy models responsibly. Data journalism will gain new analytical and visualization capabilities from AI tools. Business models will evolve to address reduced direct traffic, and editorial commissioning and trust dynamics may shift toward individuals.
Read at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
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