Understanding global attitudes towards generative AI
In a new survey conducted by YouGov across 18 international markets, we delved into consumer sentiments towards various technological changes. The analysis reveals interesting disparities and concurrences in global perspectives, particularly around generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Generative AI, the cutting-edge technology that creates content, such as text or images, based on given prompts, has captured the attention of consumers worldwide. However, opinions about this technology are split almost evenly between apprehension and acceptance. More than two-fifths of global consumers say they are ‘very worried’ or ‘somewhat worried’ about generative AI (45%) while a slightly smaller percentage are ‘not very worried’ or ‘not at all worried’ about it (39%). However, consumer sentiment varies by market.
Among the Asian countries surveyed, consumers in Indonesia and India are most worried (59% and 57%, respectively). China and Hong Kong, on the other hand, lean towards less concern with about half saying they are not worried (51% and 55%, respectively).
Europe presents a similar mixed sentiment, albeit with less pronounced worry. The highest concern is found in France (49%), while the lowest is in Sweden (33%). In Britain, two in five consumers are worried about generative AI (41%) while slightly fewer are not worried (38%). It's worth noting that one in 10 Danish and British consumers were unaware of generative AI (12 and 11% respectively).
Sentiments in North America mirror those of global consumers, characterized by a near-equal split in opinion. The US and Canada both exhibit more than two-fifth of consumers being worried about generative AI (46% and 45% respectively). Mexico shows a marginally higher level of comfort with the technology, with nearly half (48%) not worried. Notably, both the US and Canada present relatively high levels of obliviousness to this technology with one in 10 consumers (11% and 10% respectively) saying they are unaware of it.
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 512 and 2007 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in March 2023. 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. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.