Growing use of news summaries from AI assistants among younger audiences
AI chatbots are emerging as a new entry point to news consumption, particularly among younger audiences. According to the latest Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 7% of respondents say they use AI assistants for news each week, rising to 15% among people under 25.
Accuracy and trust: Reliability challenges for generative AI in journalism
At the same time, questions remain about the reliability of generative AI systems in journalistic contexts. Research coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union found that 45% of AI-generated answers in its study contained at least one significant issue, highlighting ongoing challenges related to accuracy, sourcing and editorial oversight.
Implementing AI news assistants in European newsrooms
The ChatEurope webinar will bring together representatives from several European media organisations that are experimenting with AI-driven news assistants. Participants will share practical insights from early deployments, including the development of curated source libraries, mechanisms to reduce hallucinations, and approaches to balancing automation with editorial control.The session is intended to provide media professionals with an overview of technical, editorial and user-experience considerations involved in launching AI news assistants, as well as common obstacles identified during implementation.
Date: 20 March 2026, 14:00 – 15:30 CET
Register now: HERE
Speakers:
- Aftonbladet (Sweden): The leading Swedish media outlet launched its Hej assistant last year to respond to changing media consumption habits. Martin Schori, Director of AI & Innovation, will share insights from this successful initiative.
- Ouest‑France (France): The leading regional daily in France developed Topo, a chatbot answering user queries during the world‑famous 24 Heures du Mans race. David Dieudonné, AI Project Manager for Ouest-France, will walk us through this experiment.
- European Broadcasting Union (EBU): The EBU built NEO, a conversational AI agent optimised for news content and ready-to-use for the pan-European organisation’s members. Sébastien Noir, EBU Head of Software, Technology and Innovation, and Justyna Kurczabinska, EBU Head of News Strategy, will present the initiative.
- ChatEurope project: A consortium of a dozen European news organisations, led by Agence France-Presse, launched last year ChatEurope, an EU‑co‑funded news platform integrating a multilingual conversational agent responding to queries on European affairs in all EU languages. Marie Hospital and Mathieu Gorse (AFP), Ștefăniță Stoica (Druid AI), and Mirko Lorenz (Deutsche Welle) will be among ChatEurope representatives hosting this webinar.
ChatEurope partners:
- Agence France Presse (AFP) / France
- Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) / Italy
- Agora Media Group / Poland
- German Press Agency (dpa) / Germany
- Deutsche Welle (DW) / Germany
- Druid AI / Romania
- El Pais / Spain
- France Médias Monde / France
- Maldita.es / Spain
- MediaConnect (AFP) / France
- news aktuell (dpa) / Germany
- Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) / Italy
- RFI Romania / Romania
- XWIKI SAS / France
- XWIKI SOFTWARE / Romania