• 8% of respondents use chatbots to get information—nearly double the rate in 2025—and their use has already reached 14% among people under 25

• The most common tasks are following up on a topic 41%), summarizing news stories (30%), asking for the latest updates (24%), and making the information easier to understand (22%)

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant technology; it has become an increasingly visible part of everyday life. In Spain, familiarity with AI is already relatively high: in 2024, 59% of respondents said they had heard or read a little or a lot about AI. However, this exhibition translate into full acceptance of its use in journalism. The data an ambivalent relationship: interest in the technology, but caution when it comes to its application in news. In 2025, 47% said they were uncomfortable with news stories produced largely by AI, compared to only 13% who felt comfortable.

questionnaire explores the use of chatbots as source through two different questions: one more general and the other more specific, in which respondents were asked to select the specific chatbots they had used to obtain information during the week prior to the survey. Based on those specific selections, an aggregate figure for the use of chatbots for informational purposes was calculated. The percentages for the first question are higher (8% use of AI for information) than for the second (5%). 

ChatGPT is clearly the tool widely used tool (4%), followed by Google Gemini (2%). The rest of the systems (Microsoft Copilot, goal , Grok, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Snapchat My AI, and Apple Intelligence) are still at marginal levels. Comparing these results with aggregators provides a better sense of the phenomenon’s scale. While AI chatbots account for 5%, aggregators reach 45%, driven primarily by Google Discover—used by 44% of respondents—and Google News, which accounts for 16%. Conversational AI, therefore, does not yet compete on a large scale with the major algorithmic pathways for accessing information.

Adoption is still limited, but it has profile well-defined profile

The use of AI chatbots for informational purposes is not evenly distributed. Although the numbers are small, they paint a profile recognizable profile . First, this internship is internship more male (6%) than female (4%). The difference is not large, but it aligns with a guideline observed in the data knowledge general interest in AI, where men reported more frequently that they had heard or read a lot about this technology.

Second, the use of chatbots for news is highest among young people aged 18 to 24 (14%) and declines as age increases: among those over 55, it barely reaches 3%. A certain correlation with income and educational level is also observed. In general, people with greater financial and educational resources tend to be more open to technological innovation, have a better understanding of its potential, and are more likely to experiment with new digital services early on. Thus, the use of AI chatbots for news reaches 8% among those with high incomes, compared to 4% among those with leave average incomes. Similarly, usage rises from 3% among those with lower educational attainment educational 8% among those with programs of study , Master's Degree doctorate.

 
Finally, unlike news aggregators—whose use clearly increases with interest in the news—conversational AI does not yet seem to depend on a strong journalistic motivation. Its use for news may stem as much from technological curiosity as from general digital habits, not necessarily from a greater interest in current events.

Tracking and summarizing: the main informational uses of AI

The use of chatbots for news does not follow a single logic. Those who turn to these tools are not just looking for the latest news, but also financial aid navigating the information: delving deeper, summarizing, searching for breaking news, locating sources, or adapting content. AI thus emerges as a more flexible way to access news—more akin to a reading and conversation assistant than to a conventional news outlet.

 
In both Spain and the other countries analyzed, the most widespread use is precisely the one most characteristic of the conversational format: asking follow-up questions about a news story (41% and 42%, respectively). Respondents incorporate AI into their news-consumption routines primarily to ask apply for clarification, elaborate apply for a point, apply for , or rephrase an explanation regarding a current event.

From there, the rest of the uses in Spain revolve around a common idea: making the information more manageable for the Username providing more immediate access to current events. The most common tasks in this regard are requesting a summary a news story (30%, four points below the international average), asking for the latest news (24% compared to 35% globally), and making a news story easier to understand (22% compared to 30%). Next in importance is finding or evaluating a source (21% compared to 33%). All this data indicate that, compared to other countries, Username tend to turn to AI more to work on a topic news story or topic than to delegate the initial search or selection of sources to it, which would be consistent with the general leave in the news provided by chatbots (only 18% regularly trust them).

Finally, more specialized uses of information—associated with media literacy or instrumental use—take a back seat. Asking how the media works (17%) and requesting the conversion of a article to audio or video, or vice versa (15%), are minority practices in Spain. On average globally, these uses also occupy secondary positions, although with higher percentages (23% and 21%, respectively).

Using AI to Overcome Barriers of language, Time, and Complexity

While functions show what users do with chatbots when they seek information, motivations help us understand why they turn to them. This distinction is important because usage and stated reasons do not always align: a task may be common (for example, asking a question or summarizing) without necessarily being the main reason for using the tool. Overall, the data that Spanish users do not turn to AI because it has fully replaced traditional media, nor because the chatbot has become their natural information environment, but because it solves specific problems for them. AI is valued, above all, as a convenience technology: it translates, speeds things up, responds, summarizes, and allows users to keep asking questions.

 
Specifically, the reason most frequently cited by Spanish respondents is the ability to translate news from other languages into Username language Username 33%). This is the only reason for which Spain’s figure matches exactly the average of the 45 countries where this question was asked (33%).

The promise of an immediate response is one of the biggest draws of chatbots. That speed ranks second among Spanish users (31%). AI is perceived as a more agile way to get information, although this motivation carries more weight across all 45 countries (39%). And along with the speed of response, Spaniards value the fact that AI always provides an answer to any question (29% in Spain compared to 35% globally). This factor shifts information consumption from a supply-driven model to a demand-driven one. Username no Username necessarily wait for a media outlet to prioritize information or for a search engine a list of links; instead, they initiate and steer a conversation about the topics that interest them.

Fourth, respondents value the ability to ask follow-up questions to obtain more information or clarification (27%). This figure is well below the global average (42%). This difference is striking because, when asked about the specific tasks or functions most commonly used by Spaniards, the ability to ask follow-up questions ranked at levels very similar to the international average. It appears that, although this feature is used, it is not always recognized as one of the reasons for using AI for informational purposes. Something similar happens with the aggregation feature: having AI compile news from different media sources into a single response motivates 26% of Spanish users, compared to the international average of 35%.

The ability to summarize complex stories ranksleave Spain (22%), well below the international average (36%). This contrast is once again very interesting because summary appear among the most frequently performed tasks. Users may request summaries, but they may not consider this feature the main reason they turn to the chatbot. Internationally, however, simplifying complex content seems to carry more weight as a reason for use.

Finally, the least common motivations in Spain are those that would indicate a greater normalization of chatbots as part of respondents’ everyday lives: considering them the first place to turn to for most things (16%) or simply preferring to interact with a chatbot (15%). In the other countries as well, these are secondary reasons, although they are considerably more common (24% and 23%). In other words, AI is used for informational purposes because it is useful, not because it has generally replaced other means of access or because there is an established preference for conversing with a machine to obtain information.