SOURCES
Follow the link
Sourcing was the biggest problem: 31% of answers had significant sourcing issues, such as claims the cited source did not support, or no source at all.
What to check
WHAT THE RESEARCH FOUND
Check the answer,
then the source.
AI assistants now answer questions about the news.
Public service broadcasters in 18 countries put them to the test. Their journalists found that many answers sounded confident but had problems with sources, dates or quotes, things a reader can often check in a minute.
45% had a significant issue
Check an answer- Open the cited source
- Check the date
- Compare the quote
- A minute of checking goes a long way
THE SHORT ANSWER
Useful, but not
yet reliable.
Two studies led by the BBC asked AI assistants real news questions.
Journalists who knew each topic marked the answers.
DATES
Is it still true?
Out-of-date information was one of the most common errors. In May 2025, assistants still named Pope Francis as Pope, weeks after his death.
See the numbers
QUOTES
Compare the words
In the BBC's first study, 13% of quotes taken from BBC articles were either changed or not in the article cited at all.
How to check
FOUR QUICK CHECKS
Treat it as a lead,
not the last word.
These checks follow the four criteria the broadcasters used to judge answers: accuracy, context, fact versus opinion, and sourcing.
Open the cited source
Click through and find the claim on the page. If there is no source, or the page does not say it, treat the claim as unconfirmed.
Check the date
Look at when the source was published. Outdated information was one of the most common errors the journalists found.
Separate fact from opinion
Ask whose view a statement is. A good answer says clearly who holds an opinion rather than presenting it as fact.
Go to a trusted outlet
For anything important, read the story from a news organisation or official source that corrects its mistakes in public.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Confident answers,
frequent slips.
One figure on how often answers went wrong,
one on how many people already use AI for news.
45%
AI news answers with a significant issue
Journalists from 22 public service media organisations in 18 countries, working in 14 languages, evaluated more than 3,000 responses from four AI assistants. When smaller issues were included, 81% of responses had a problem of some form.
ACCURACY · BBC AND EBU
15%
Under-25s using AI chatbots for news weekly
Across 48 markets, 7% of people said they use AI chatbots for news each week, rising to 15% of under-25s. In the UK, weekly use was just 3%.
USE · REUTERS INSTITUTE
The BBC's first study, of 100 news questions asked in December 2024, found significant issues in 51% of answers. The October 2025 round showed some improvement but still high levels of errors.
WHERE ANSWERS GO WRONG
What should you
check first?
Pick a part of an AI news answer to see how often journalists found a significant problem with it. The bar shows how common the problem was in the international study.
Figures from the BBC and EBU News Integrity in AI Assistants report (October 2025). Answers change over time and between assistants.
WHO FIXES THE MISTAKES?
News outlets correct.
Assistants may not.
The BBC noted that while AI assistants often carry a disclaimer about possible inaccuracy, there is no mechanism for them to correct errors, unlike professional news outlets that acknowledge and correct their mistakes.
When people want to check whether something is true, the Reuters Institute found they most often turn first to news outlets they trust (38%), official sources (35%) and fact-checkers (25%), rather than social media (14%).
Questions
Questions people ask
How accurate are AI assistants about the news?
In the October 2025 BBC and EBU study, 45% of more than 3,000 answers had at least one significant issue, and 81% had some kind of issue. The study covered four leading AI assistants in 14 languages.
What was the most common problem?
Sourcing. 31% of answers had significant sourcing problems, such as a cited source that did not support the claim, missing sources, or incorrect attributions. Accuracy issues affected 20%.
Do the assistants admit when they do not know?
Rarely. Of 3,113 questions asked in the international study, only 17 were refused, about 0.5%. The researchers say assistants seem more willing to answer whether or not they can answer well.
How many people get news from AI?
The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 found 7% use AI chatbots for news each week across 48 markets, and 15% of under-25s. In the UK the figure was 3%.
Are people comfortable with AI-made news?
Mostly not. The Reuters Institute found audiences more comfortable when humans stay in the loop, and expect AI to make news cheaper to make but less trustworthy. In the UK, comfort with mainly AI-made news was 11%.
Sources
- BBC Media Centre: AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time (October 2025)
- BBC and EBU: News Integrity in AI Assistants report (2025)
- BBC and EBU: News Integrity in AI Assistants toolkit (2025)
- BBC: Representation of BBC News content in AI assistants (February 2025)
- Reuters Institute: Digital News Report 2025, executive summary
Updated