AI search pushing an already weakened media ecosystem to the brink

Generative artificial intelligence assistants like ChatGPT are cutting into traditional online search traffic, depriving news sites of visitors and impacting the advertising revenue they desperately need, in a crushing blow to an industry already fighting for survival. "The next three or four years will be incredibly challenging for publishers everywhere. No one is immune from the AI summaries storm gathering on the horizon," warned Matt Karolian, vice president of research and development at Boston Globe Media. "Publishers need to build their own shelters or risk being swept away."