This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It’s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series →This is an excerpt from our Digiday+ Research report “How publishers from Dow Jones and Business Insider to People Inc. are approaching AI in 2026,” which explores how publishers are navigating the opportunities and challenges that have come with the evolution of AI. The report is based on a survey of 40 publisher professionals, as well as individual interviews with publisher executives responsible for AI investments and applications development.AI has moved from the margins to the mainstream of editorial workflows. Publishers have increasingly embedded AI tools into daily functions, especially when it comes to streamlining tasks and improving the audience experience.
This is according to a Digiday+ Research survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025.
When Digiday asked publishers which applications their companies are using AI for, three applications tied for the No. 1 spot. Fifty-three percent of publisher respondents said their companies use AI for internal chatbots and AI assistants, voice-to-text translation, and multi-media generation, respectively. This tracks with Digiday’s survey finding that more than half of publishers use AI for internal purposes.
