Will AI eat the media?

Fascinating read on the future of the media in the age of AI. And for some, it will be a terrifying read.

https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/information-ecosystem-being-redrawn-ai-might-be-good-news

"Now information can exist without a container at all. And when information becomes liquid, the market bifurcates. Economic value concentrates at two extremes of a ‘barbell’; premium brands competing on differentiation and direct audience relationships; and commodity infrastructure operating at massive scale and razor thin margins. The middle, where most publishers currently sit, hollows out."

I'm trying to figure out exactly what this looks like, because it's clearly radically different than the current environment.

I'm just spitballing here, but if middle market journalism evaporates entirely, then we are basically left with wire services and The New Yorker (or similar)?

But let's take this a step further than the article: without the middle market to support said wire services, who will pay for that information?

Maybe the AI giants themselves will need to buy them. After all, trust is the key currency, and their models will need the info more than most?