With the arrival of AI, can journalists, YouTubers (or content creators on video - sharing platforms), and writers escape this "extinction wave"?

The era of AI has arrived, bringing with it a silent wave of "job extinction." AI has deeply penetrated the processes of news gathering, aggregation, and distribution. From Perplexity's audacious $34.5 billion bid to acquire Chrome to Particle's creation of panoramic news summaries, AI is reshaping the information entry points and user experiences. The journalism profession is facing a "silent extinction," with 57% of people believing that journalists will be replaced.

AI is redefining the entry points and methods of information acquisition.

Meanwhile, native AI news products offer a user experience that is vastly different from traditional news.

A study shows that AI has made its mark in newsrooms around the world.

This study, conducted by researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Chicago, focuses on occupations that may be affected by generative AI, especially the journalism industry.

Anders Humlum said that journalists might be "at the forefront of using AI chatbots".

However, in a survey of working journalists, 57.2% of them believe that AI will take over more jobs. Some even said:

We are witnessing a slow and silent extinction of (news journalists and editors).

More than 70% of journalists said that AI will replace them in the next few years.

This new wave of technologies - marked by automated content generation, AI-based social media monitoring, and algorithmic editorial decision-making - has raised alarms across the industry.

Meanwhile, tech companies have decided to double down. They not only aim to control the entry points of human information flow but also seek to revolutionize the way information is distributed.

Behind Perplexity's Ambitious Move

Last Wednesday, the well - known AI search engine startup Perplexity officially made a shocking acquisition offer to tech giant Google.

It plans to spend $34.5 billion to buy the Chrome browser.

Behind this almost impossible "David vs. Goliath" move lies Perplexity's ambition:

Venture capital's bet on the AI information entry point - Chrome has over 3 billion users globally and is one of the most core traffic entry points in the internet era. Controlling the browser means controlling users' information channels.

Perplexity entered the AI information track through search. Previously, it also launched an AI news aggregation function called "Discover," which integrates real - time news from across the web and presents a knowledge base of hot events in an interactive Q&A format.

The articles on Discover are not randomly scraped but are generated in combination with Perplexity Pages - a tool that helps users organize search results into structured and visual articles.

These contents are presented in the form of "pages," which can be organized by topics such as technology, finance, and entertainment, allowing users to quickly browse and have in - depth experiences.

The Discover page is a content discovery and browsing method designed by Perplexity for users.

It uses text and pictures and structurally optimized "Pages" as carriers, gathering the latest, hottest, and most in - depth topics and perspectives on the platform, enabling users to quickly capture inspiration and explore their interests in depth.

Each Page is a knowledge base, and everyone can build a knowledge base according to their own interests.

Particle's Unique Approach

The AI news app Particle has similar functions and features three main highlights: summarization, personalization, and high speed.

Particle News is a news intelligent agent in your pocket.

Particle is an AI - driven news platform founded by former Twitter engineers. Its Particle.news website was officially launched in May 2025.

Particle.news provides AI - generated news summaries, allowing users to quickly understand key content without reading the full text.

Through carefully selected media citations and multi - angle views, each summary will indicate the sources of reports from multiple mainstream news media and display them prominently to help users access the original information in depth.

Meanwhile, Particle.news processes media materials, articles, and citations separately for easy viewing.

In the blog program The Media Copilot, Particle's CEO Sara Beykpour believes that AI is changing the way people access news:

All news aggregators are not really aggregating...

They are just collecting...

Particle is the real aggregator.

Unlike traditional news aggregators that simply pile up news, Particle uses AI technology to generate panoramic summaries for each topic - highlighting key facts, digging into original sources (such as tweets or trailers), and analyzing media reporting tendencies.

Content platforms such as Meta and YouTube encourage users to create content using AI.

Beyond News: AI's Impact on Content Creation

Today's social platforms rely on creators to produce content and then monetize through advertising.

If AI - generated short videos, images, and posts can be equally appealing, Meta can gradually "cut out the middleman" - no longer needing to pay creators.

In fact, this trend is already happening.

Some creators' channels are almost 100% AI - driven. For example:

Some people use HeyGen's virtual avatars + 11Labs' voice - overs to generate short videos in batches;

Some media accounts completely rely on AI to generate hosts, combined with editing and B - roll, and viewers can hardly tell the difference.

What's the result?

The viewership is still huge. This shows that most viewers actually don't care "whether it's made by AI." They only care about whether they can get information or entertainment.

This is especially true for the younger generation. For them, "content is content," and they don't deliberately distinguish between human - created and AI - created content.

As long as it brings joy and excitement, they will keep scrolling.

This is a huge impact on traditional creators.

In the next few years, there may be a large number of "AI - generated idols" and "AI dramas" emerging, and the audience's acceptance will be higher and higher.

How Will AI Reshape Internet Content?

For the same news, multi - modal AI can automatically generate messages in various forms:

A 30 - second voice briefing for commuting

Text - and - image news flashes on mobile phones

In - depth analysis + knowledge graph for desktop users

AI news is like water, changing its form according to the medium.

Moreover, news substitutes no longer need to worry about creators going on strike, mood swings, rule - breaking, or scandals... AI doesn't have these problems.

In the future, journalists will transform into "information architects," who need to understand AI and, more importantly, adhere to ethical boundaries.

AI and humans will complete a new division of labor:

AI takes over: data organization, background explanation, and basic reporting

Humans focus on: on - site investigations, value judgments, and correcting AI - generated content

The speed of news creation in the AI era is exponential:

Generate 10 reports in one minute

Automatically reorganize human - input content

Produce new content in an infinite loop

The traditional news generation process will eventually be overturned.

But remember: information can be mastered by AI, while the value of news still needs to be judged by humans.

Changes in Human Users' Reading Experiences

From the user's perspective, AI news products bring a brand - new reading experience: more efficient, personalized, and interactive information acquisition