Trend · rank 118 of 250

AI-mediated information access

Chatbots and AI summaries are becoming the first place people look for information, moving the power to select and frame facts from publishers to model providers and changing how sources are found and trusted.

Information & InfluenceInformation & trustaiinformationconsumer

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was AI-mediated information. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
118of 250
Sensitivity
8.3rank 144
Breadth
0of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
39.5rank 98
Eigenvector
28.5
Betweenness
0.1
Links
14trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
21.1

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
161
Over a year
+30%Rising
Over three years
+116%
Peak
18527 Sept 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.19
Coverage
1language · 65 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (1 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English100%242+98%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Ethiopia

Philippines

Indonesia

Singapore

Ghana

Kenya

Sri Lanka

Nepal

Uganda

China

South Korea

Tunisia

100

85

80

73

68

64

58

57

51

50

50

49

The 12 highest of 65 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English169+12%+2%+462%
EuropeGoogle in 9 countries100−30%−16%+76%
ChinaGoogle in 1 country107−19%−1%+155%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 11 countries103−19%−13%+73%
South AsiaGoogle in 4 countries105−3%−35%+102%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 5 countries111−26%+5%+79%
AfricaGoogle in 6 countries91+4%−4%+22%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 4 countries147−31%+70%+225%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country69−28%−35%−26%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle151−46%+62%+382%
AustraliaGoogle104−27%−17%+132%
BrazilGoogle107−11%+4%+26%
CanadaGoogle93−12%−20%+55%
ChinaGoogle107−19%−1%+155%
FranceGoogle121−19%+19%+74%
GermanyGoogle83−31%−34%+30%
IndiaGoogle104−4%−46%+123%
IndonesiaGoogle113+10%+1%+11%
ItalyGoogle97−28%−21%+119%
JapanGoogle115−36%−2%+378%
South KoreaGoogle98−37%−16%+54%
MexicoGoogle156−36%+101%+440%
Saudi ArabiaGoogle131−25%+22%+179%
South AfricaGoogle97−13%−25%+72%
TürkiyeGoogle98−24%+7%+3%
United KingdomGoogle104−22%−18%+87%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English169+12%−7%+527%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
3 · ModerateA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
2 · LowHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
1 · Very lowAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
1 · Very lowA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
1 · Very lowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
4 · HighDecline of independent journalismInformation & trust29
4 · HighMisinformation & disinformationInformation & trust30
4 · HighSynthetic media & deepfakesInformation & trust87
4 · HighForeign information manipulationInformation & trust91
4 · HighPlatform power over public discourseInformation & trust99
4 · HighMedia provenance & authenticationInformation & trust100
4 · HighCensorship & surveillanceInformation & trust103
3 · ModerateDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
3 · ModeratePublic communication in crisisInformation & trust10
3 · ModerateElection integrity & interferenceInformation & trust57
3 · ModerateConspiracy movements & science denialInformation & trust68
3 · ModerateOpen-source intelligence & transparencyInformation & trust79
3 · ModerateDigital language representation gapsInformation & trust193
3 · ModerateOnline harms & safetyInformation & trust202