March 23rd, 2022, Janice Fernandes
Whether it’s booking a cinema ticket or calling the bank, many of us have been on the wrong end of voice recognition experience. In a new YouGov survey, consumers from 18 markets across the globe were asked if they think using AI like voice recognition in the telecom industry will be more helpful than harmful.
Over a third of global consumers (36%) agree that using AI to improve network and consumer experience will be beneficial. Around three in five (60%) of urban Indians believe this to be true, the highest among all markets.
The North American markets are divided in their opinion about the usefulness of AI in telecom. While more than half the consumers in urban Mexico (55%) believe that AI will be more helpful than harmful, the rest of the region is more cynical. The share drops by almost half among Canadians (30%) and it further shrinks to two in ten Americans (20%).
Most countries in the European market are less likely to agree with the statement – perhaps having had experience of the dubious early versions of things like voice recognition. Less than a quarter of consumers in France and Britain (21% and 23% respectively) are likely to have a positive opinion about AI usage, while Spaniards (42%) and Polish (33%) are among the highest in this market.
Around a third of global consumers are undecided about whether AI can improve customer experiences. The numbers are similar in all individual markets too, with Hong Kong registering as the most significant outlier (42%). This could indicate that consumers are either not fully informed about the development of AI or are not confident about its usage.
Western markets are more likely to say that AI won’t be as helpful in improving customer service. Nearly a quarter of consumers in most western markets disagree with the statement – US (26%), France (24%), Britain (23%), Germany (23%). This share drops in some European markets with Danes being only as likely as the global respondents to disagree (18%). Italy (14%) and Spain (15%) register less than two in ten consumers who disagree. However, this share is still significantly more than most Asian markets – China (7%), Indonesia (8%), Singapore (11%).
Breaking up the data by age, we see that younger age groups are more likely to believe in the positive impact of AI compared to older age groups: 18-24-year-olds (45%), 25-34 (42%), 35-44 (39%), 45-54 (36%), 55+ (26%).
Further analysis also shows that globally there is a difference in opinion between men and women. While around two in five men (42%) agree that AI will help improve network and customer experience, only a third of women think the same (30%).
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Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 528 and 2,002 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in January 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.