How will we search online in the future?

Endless lists of links, even for a simple search for potting soil

All we really need is one answer, not countless ones. But search engines deliver pages and pages of links. Honestly: Do you look at the links on the second or even third page? You're not alone: Studies show that only 40.3 clicks result from every 100 Google searches. So nearly 60 percent of people are satisfied with the answer at the top and don't check the source. 
2024 Zero-Click Search Study

Sources are there to be clicked

Tools like Perplexity promise that we no longer need to search, but can find. Instead of long lists of links, they give us answers. Well written, plausible-sounding, and concise. With source citations. Be honest: How often do you click on the sources and check whether the answer is really correct?

Who decides what’s what?

After the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, Meta AI initially had nothing to say about it. Meta explained in a blog post that it had intentionally prevented the chatbot from discussing the assassination attempt at first. After all, headline-making events often bring conflicting information and unfounded speculation, including conspiracy theories. That’s understandable on one hand. But who decides which questions bots answer and which they do not?

Media and digital assistants

German weekly newspaper Die ZEIT is experimenting with an AI-based application that answers readers’ questions about current events using its archive. 

In its news app, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) offers subscribers an AI-generated summary of selected news articles.

Axel Springer is partnering with OpenAI. ChatGPT may access selected content from Bild, Welt, Politico, and Business Insider to train ChatGPT to provide information on current events. In return, ChatGPT links to the Springer articles in its responses.  

Der Spiegel has entered into a three-year partnership with the AI answer bot Perplexity to make Spiegel articles more visible on this platform. In return, Der Spiegel receives a share of the advertising revenue generated from its content.

Views on AI in journalism

The use of AI is accepted when it helps media professionals work more effectively, for example through translations, speech-to-text transcription, and similar tasks.

According to one survey, however, only 14 percent of respondents in Germany support news produced primarily by AI.

The application makes a difference, though: a summary of a sports event is more readily accepted than an article on political topics.

AI-generated photos and videos that look realistic are viewed especially critically. People want to “rely on images and videos as ‘mental shortcuts’ so they can tell what they can trust online.” In keeping with the saying "Seeing is believing“ or, in German, „Seeing is believing".

Regardless of the application, users believe that full automation should be off limits and that a human must always be involved.