30/06/2025

LYFE MONDAY | JUNE 30, 2025

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Poll finds public turning to chatbots for news updates

PEOPLE are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots such as ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news, a media report found. The yearly survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found“for the first time” that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates, director Mitali Mukherjee wrote. Attached to Britain’s Oxford University, the Reuters Institute annual report is seen as unmissable for people following the evolution of media. Just 7% of people report using AI to find news, according to the poll of 97,000 people in 48 countries, carried out by YouGov. But the proportion is higher among the young, at 12% of under-35s and 15% of under-25s. The biggest-name chatbot – OpenAI’s ChatGPT – is the most widely used, followed by Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama. Respondents appreciated relevant, personalised news from chatbots. Many more used AI to summarise (27%), translate (24%) or recommend (21%) articles, while almost one in five asked questions about current events. Distrust remains, with those polled on balance saying AI risked making the news less transparent, less accurate and less trustworthy. Rather than being programmed, today’s powerful AI “large language models” are “trained” on vast quantities of data from the web and other sources – including news media such as text articles or video reports. Once trained, they are able to generate text and images

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natural-language queries. But they present problems including “hallucinations” – the term used when AI invents information that fits patterns in their training data but is not true. Scenting a chance at revenue in a long-squeezed market, some news organisations have struck deals to share their content with developers of AI models. Agence France-Presse allows the platform of French AI firm Mistral to access its archive of news stories going back decades. Other media have launched copyright cases against AI makers over alleged illegal use of their content, for example the New York Times against ChatGPT developer OpenAI. The Reuters Institute report also pointed to traditional media – TV, radio, newspapers and news sites – losing ground to social networks and video-sharing platforms. Almost half of 18–24-year-olds report that social media such as TikTok is their main source of news, especially in emerging countries such as India, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand. The institute found that many are still using Elon Musk-owned social media platform X for news, despite a rightward shift since the world’s richest man took it over. “Many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently,” the authors wrote. Some 23% of people in the US reported using X for news, up 8% on 2024’s survey, with usage also rising in countries such as Australia and Poland. – AFP

Three out of four Malaysians believe that AI has significantly changed their daily life in the past three to five years. – FREEPIKPIC

What do M’sians think of AI?

M ALAYSIANS generally hold a positive view of artificial intelligence’s (AI) ability to improve job quality, said the Ipsos AI Monitor 2025. Beyond expressing excitement for its use, three out of four Malaysians believe that AI has significantly changed their daily life in the past three to five years. Malaysia, along with other Southeast Asian countries, demonstrates high levels of excitement and acceptance regarding the changes brought by AI. In 2025, over 50% of Malaysians agree that AI will improve their job, representing a 15% increase from 2024. This trend suggests a growing willingness to integrate AI into the workplace. However, this optimism is o Over half agree it will improve their job

Malaysia to strike a balanced path – embracing innovation while safeguarding public trust and workforce resilience. This is in line with the various initiatives and efforts carried out by the government to capitalise on AI as an economic growth catalyst while improving public service and ensuring responsible AI development.

also accompanied by its own anxiety, as 63% of Malaysians worry that AI could potentially replace their current job within the next three to five years. In terms of regulating AI, Malaysians are supportive of regulating AI usage and trust the government to take responsibility for ensuring AI is used responsibly. This presents a crucial opportunity for

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the most widely used AI bot for news, followed by Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama. – AFPPIC

Coming soon from OpenAI: productivity tools to rival Office, Workspace OPENAI is reportedly working on a productivity suite that would be directly integrated into ChatGPT. These tools would enable users to edit documents, communicate by chat and manage tasks, similar to what is offered by well-known software suites such as Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. these tools with a small number of users.

Although no such features have been announced yet, it is already possible to edit documents, text, code or even tables, then download them in Word or PDF format using the Canvas feature integrated into ChatGPT, which is now available to all. To access it, simply select “Write or code” from the tools offered by ChatGPT (on a computer). You can then create and edit a document before downloading it, if necessary. In general, by placing AI at the heart of creation and collaboration, OpenAI is focusing on a more fluid and intuitive experience than traditional tools. A complete suite of office and collaborative tools designed for businesses could be launched by the end of the year or early 2026. OpenAI, which already claims to have more than three

By placing AI at the heart of creation and collaboration, OpenAI is focusing on a more fluid and intuitive experience than traditional tools. – PEXELSPIC

The rumour originated from an article in The Information, which reports that OpenAI has quietly developed artificial intelligence (AI)-powered productivity features capable of competing with the top software suites on the market. OpenAI is reportedly working on adding the ability to create and collaborate in real time on exportable documents directly within ChatGPT, with chat and direct connection to professional tools. According to The Information , OpenAI is already testing

addition to its AI chatbot, OpenAI is reportedly working on a web browser with advanced and AI-powered features. – ETX Studio

giants have already integrated AI into their software suites. OpenAI is therefore continuing to expand its field of activity. In

million paying professional users, would thus position itself as a serious competitor to Microsoft and Google – despite the fact that these two