With the BBC, Guardian, Sky and more already signed up, this new coalition will help the news industry increase its bargaining power, but it won't be enough, and our report also maps the next steps government must take to ensure AI's impact on UK news is net positive 3/3
Our research shows that AI can't currently be relied on as a good source of news - but that the answer isn't an endless standoff between publishers and tech companies. We need a fair deal that works for both sides and that means collective licensing of news content to be used in AI answers. 2/3
So far, AI companies have held all the power to decide how they use journalists' work. Today, the UK news industry have started to change this with a new coalition that gives journalism a collective voice to push back - exactly the sort of initiative we call for in our latest @ippr.org report. 1/3
NEW: The policies of today will shape AI tools of the future. Let's make sure it improves - not destroys - our news environment. 👇
We argue that a far better future is possible. To make it happen, we need:
1. AI companies to pay for news with government support for collective licensing so that a wide range of news outlets become visible.
2. Nutrition labels for AI answers and greater user choice on preferred sources.
And, more work is needed to understand how commercial relationships between AI companies and news outlets impact prominence.
Does having a licensing deal with OpenAI mean your content will be prioritised in AI answers? And will there be transparency around how these deals work?
But - not all news sites want to be visible in AI answers. The BBC, the UK's most trusted news site, only shows up in half of AI tools. Murky rules on how content gets used mean that trying to block AI won't protect your news brand.
AI also has the potential to create new winners and losers as news sites jostle for visibility. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is starting to become the new SEO, but it won't always be the most trustworthy sites that win.
We found that AI draws on a narrow range of outlets, with each AI tool concentrating heavily on just one news site.
AI is transforming our information environment - but is it reliably delivering news content to the public?
We tested four AI tools to find out and our results reveal worrying trends:
AI is becoming a new front door to the news - 40% of 18-24 year olds use AI for information weekly and Google AI overviews reach 2 billion a month.
But we find AI isn't reliably surfacing news content - with implications for public access to information and media plurality.
Full report @ippr.org
