Search engines are becoming answer engines, which is changing the rules of the digital information ecosystem. New models are needed for public debate and regulation because existing legal categories are insufficient. Both research and legislation are under increasing time pressure due to the rapid development of AI. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz, Director of the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI), came to this conclusion at the 16th Hamburg Media Symposium.
On June 25, 2026, approximately 150 representatives from media research, media law, media policy, and media practice gathered at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce to discuss the consequences of the convergence of online search and generative AI.
The symposium addressed the following questions: What impact does the convergence of traditional internet search and generative artificial intelligence have on our information ecosystem? What implications does this have for journalism and society when AI systems provide answers without users accessing the original sources? What legal and regulatory frameworks apply to chatbots and AI-powered search engines?
The presentations and discussions unanimously demonstrated that the information ecosystem is undergoing a profound transformation. The way information is found, how visibility is created, and the role of journalistic media in the future are currently being redefined. These new technological developments require new responses from academia, media practitioners, politicians, and regulators.
The 16th Hamburg Media Symposium was organized by the HBI, the Media Authority of Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein (MA HSH), and the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. The entire event was held in German.
Recording of the Event
TIDE – Hamburgs Bürger:innensender und Ausbildungskanal [Hamburg’s community television station and educational channel] recorded the symposium.
The presentations and the panel discussion will be broadcast on TIDE on July 20 at 7:00 p.m. (Part 1) and on July 21 at 7:30 p.m. (Part 2), and will also be available on TIDE’s YouTube channel.
Academic Presentations
Following opening remarks by Dr. Philipp Henze, the Deputy Executive Director of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, three academic presentations offered different perspectives on the convergence of search and generative AI.
In her presentation, “The Automation of News,” Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen of the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI) demonstrated that AI can now be understood as a participant in social communication. She argued that language models are not merely tools, but actively intervene in communicative processes. This transforms the role of journalism. She stated, “AI is not simply a tool that one chooses to use or not—it is part of social communication. This places it precisely where journalism also has its role to play. Today, journalism must make itself readable for machines while simultaneously defending itself against the expectation that it can be replaced by them.”
Dr. Tim Schatto-Eckrodt of the University of Hamburg presented a study examining the use of generative AI as a news recommendation system. He demonstrated that systems like ChatGPT are increasingly taking on a quasi-journalistic role. However, the origin and quality of the sources often remain unclear. This increases the risk of misinformation and limited visibility for journalistic content. “Access to balanced, high-quality news should not be left to systems that are opaque to their users and make plausible yet false statements,” said Dr. Eckrodt.
Prof. Dr. Tilo Böhmann of the University of Hamburg examined this development from a sociotechnical perspective. He believes that architectural models could help analyze technical, legal, and societal developments collectively. He proposed the use of “Architectural Observatories” as a potential tool to systematically track changes in the media ecosystem.
New Regulatory Issues
In the second part of the event, Prof. Dr. Jan Oster, LL.M. (Berkeley) of the University of Osnabrück presented an expert report titled “Integration von KI-Anwendungen in Suchmaschinen. Eine medienrechtliche und regulatorische Einordnung” [Integration of AI Applications into Search Engines: A Media Law and Regulatory Analysis]. The presentation focused on questions regarding the legal classification of AI-generated responses, responsibility for follow-up links, and the potential need to adjust media law at the national and European levels. The key finding is that: AI-generated responses are generally considered the search engine providers’ own content.
Panel Discussion: Media Diversity in the Age of Responses
Svea Eckert moderated a discussion featuring Dr. Christian Heise (Hamburg Media School), Dennis Kaben (Google), Prof. Dr. Jan Oster, LL.M. (University of Osnabrück), Cordula Schmitz (FUNKE Media Group), and Eva-Maria Sommer (Media Authority of Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein). The panelists discussed the future of journalistic visibility in the age of AI.
Dr. Christian Heise described this shift as follows: “We are currently experiencing the tipping point from the search paradigm to the answer paradigm. Convenient zero-click answers are replacing the diversity of the internet with a monoculture of synthesized voices. Platforms that focus solely on user convenience or publishers that merely lament the loss of traffic from the old link economy will not find the solution.”
Dennis Kaben emphasized the platforms’ responsibility: “Our access to information has constantly changed over the past few decades. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the media ecosystem is now undergoing its next major transformation. Google continues to see itself as a responsible partner for journalists, media outlets, and publishers. The task now is to harness the opportunities this technology offers society and develop joint solutions to the challenges it presents.”
Eva-Maria Sommer highlighted the importance of regulatory transparency: “The criteria used to select and place related links must be transparent. This is the only way to verify and ensure that the diversity of journalistic and editorial media remains visible.”
In closing, Wolfgang Schulz drew three key conclusions. First, the public debate and regulatory efforts require robust models that make the structures of the new information ecosystem understandable. Architectural models depicting the interactions between actors and information flows could provide this simplification. At the same time, generative AI is increasingly challenging existing legal categories, such as the distinction between original and third-party content in freedom of expression law. Added to this is a structural issue of pace: While AI systems evolve within months, it takes significantly more time to develop regulations and scientific knowledge.
The 16th Hamburg Media Symposium revealed that the convergence of search engines and generative AI will have significant consequences for information diversity, journalistic visibility, and the democratic public sphere. Responsibly shaping these developments requires close collaboration between academia, media practitioners, policymakers, and regulators.
Click here for the program of the event.
Photo: Kristen Haarmann/Hamburg Chamber of Commerce; from left: Dr. Tim Schatto-Eckrodt, Prof. Dr. Jan Oster, LL.M. (Berkeley), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz, Eva-Maria Sommer, Dr. Christian Heise, Cordula Schmitz, Dennis Kaben, Svea Eckert, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen