Optimism on usage of AI grows amid safety concerns: Poll

A new Gallup-Microsoft survey has found that people around the world are largely optimistic about Artificial Intelligence (AI), even though most respondents admit they have never actually used the technology themselves. The findings paint a picture of global sentiment that runs well ahead of global adoption, with curiosity and hope outpacing fear in the vast majority of countries surveyed.

The survey found that positive feelings toward AI outweighed negative ones in 34 of the first 37 countries to complete fieldwork this year. Only three countries bucked the trend: the United States, Egypt, and Palestine. Gallup says the project will eventually expand to cover 140 countries.

Across the 37 nations surveyed, 72 per cent of AI-aware adults reported at least one positive emotion toward the technology, compared with 41 per cent who reported at least one negative one. Curiosity emerged as the single most common reaction, with a median of 64 per cent of respondents saying AI makes them curious. 

The survey found striking regional divides. China posted the highest levels of enthusiasm globally, with 90 per cent of respondents reporting at least one positive emotion toward AI. An extraordinary 93 per cent of respondents said that they believe AI will mostly help their country. Vietnam followed closely at 91 per cent, with Singapore, Israel, and Nigeria rounding out the most optimistic nations.

By contrast, all seven wealthy Western countries surveyed, like the US, Netherlands, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Ireland, and Malta, ranked among the top eight countries globally for AI-related worry. 

The United States topped that list, with 74 per cent of Americans who’d heard of AI expressing concern about it, the highest worry level recorded anywhere in the survey. 

Despite optimism, trust remains low

A median of just 36 per cent of respondents said they trust AI completely or a lot to provide accurate information. Majority-level trust in AI’s accuracy was recorded in only four countries: Israel (67 per cent), Vietnam (59 per cent), China (58 per cent), and Nigeria.

That trust, however, climbed substantially with actual use. In the United States, 45 per cent of daily AI users said they trust its accuracy, compared with just eight per cent of those who had never used the technology at all.