People in Emerging Countries More Likely to Trust AI, Study Reveals

Brazil, India, China, and South Africa are the only countries where more than half of the population expressed strong trust and acceptance of artificial intelligence technologies, according to a study from global accounting firm KPMG.

The country with the highest trust in A.I. is India, with a 75% overall acceptance rate.

Moreover, the study revealed that emerging countries —specifically the BRICS bloc— also have the highest engagement with A.I. China is the nation with the most people using A.I. in their workplace (75%), followed by India with 66% and Brazil with 50%.

On the other hand, citizens of developed countries appeared to be more skeptical. Japan and Finland are at the bottom of the list, with 23% trust in A.I. systems. 40% of Americans reported having trust in artificial intelligence—but only 24% were willing to use it.

The research—conducted in partnership with the University of Queensland in Australia—involved a survey of over 17,000 people from 17 countries, including the so-called “BRICS” bloc: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Responses were also collected from the United States, Japan, Australia, and various European, Nordic, and Asian countries.

The survey included questions related to the use and acceptance of A.I. in various professional fields, such as medicine, finance, and human resources, as well as in some everyday activities.

Trust and acceptance of artificial intelligence around the world. Image: University of Queensland

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Explodes in Popularity

Artificial Intelligence has become a global tech obsession in recent months, the topic reaching an all-time high in Google searches, driven by significant advancements in key areas such as text-to-image generation, advanced language learning models, and platforms that make it possible to use such technologies in everyday life situations. These include ChatGPT, Midjourney, Bing, and Lensa.

Evolution of search interest in the term «AI» Image: Google

The survey reflects this sentiment: 82% of all respondents claim to have some knowledge about A.I. The country with the most people aware of this technology is South Korea (98%), followed by China (96%), Finland (95%), and Singapore (94%).

The Netherlands is the country with the fewest people claiming to have heard of the technology (58%).

But just like any tool that sees rapid adoption, risks also play a part in the conversation. The professional sector with the least trust in the adoption of A.I. technologies is human resources, with a 36% trust level.

In general terms, 67% of the overall population feels optimistic about the potential of artificial intelligence, while only 24% say they are «outraged» by this type of technology.

Source: University of Queensland

The acceptance and trust in A.I.—not only in professional contexts but also in general terms—is opening a world of possibilities and opportunities that could change the way people live and work. However, the KPMG study also serves as a reminder that users must consider the risks and concerns associated with artificial intelligence, as they would with any developing technology.

In fact, some experts have already issued warnings on the subject, fearing that overly accelerated A.I. training could result in a product so successful that—according to some prominent industry figures—things could get out of hand without proper control mechanisms in place.

Decrypt previously reported that a group of prominent figures in the technology industry and A.I. research published a letter calling for a pause in the training of A.I. models more powerful than GPT-4. The list includes names such as Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and even Emad Mostaque, CEO of Stability AI, developers of the A.I. image generation model Stable Diffusion.

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