Will News Find Them With Generative AI?

Three key affordances of generative AI (GenAI), namely, hyper-personalization, intuitive interaction, and universality, provide the technology with the potential to disrupt current news consumption practices. While opportunities include reducing intentional news avoidance, risks involve the displacement of journalistic news sources. Using a representative survey conducted in Germany before the 2024 European Parliament elections, this study examines the use of GenAI for political information and news. We find that although a significant portion of the population has experimented with GenAI, its use for news remains limited. Established patterns of news consumption largely persist: news exposure and political interest are positively associated with GenAI use for news. In contrast, intentional news avoidance is not associated with such GenAI use. Importantly, we find no evidence that using GenAI for news replaces journalistic sources. An exception is observed among individuals with a lower sense of duty to stay informed, who usually have a lower tendency for news consumption and are more likely to turn to GenAI for news. These findings, GenAI’s rapid evolution, its increasing integration across various contexts, and shifting user behaviors warrant further research.