Many countries are optimistic about AI, poll finds

NEW YORK - It may come as a surprise for world leaders discussing artificial intelligence at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, but a large majority of people surveyed across the globe for a new Gallup poll said they felt mostly positive about AI.Gallup, an opinion research organisation, interviewed at least 1,000 people in each of 37 countries and found that in 34, positive emotions toward AI outweighed negative feelings.An average of 72 per cent of respondents said they felt curious, happy or excited about AI, compared with 41 per cent who felt worried, sad or angry.It was among the most comprehensive portraits of varied emotional responses to the new technology yet, and the margins between hope and fear were wide.In China and Vietnam, more than 90 per cent of people polled said they believed that AI would mostly make daily life better.In Nigeria, Israel and Singapore, more than two-thirds of the respondents agreed.But in the United States, only 36 per cent saw AI as mostly helpful rather than harmful.The seven Western high-income countries that Gallup surveyed (the United States, Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Malta and the Netherlands) dominated its ranking of the most concerned, with the United States at the top.Gallup plans to eventually include AI surveys in 140 countries, but this early snapshot – conducted with Microsoft, featuring a margin of error of 2.2 per cent and 4.9 percentage points – appeared to show a clear divide.“The most consistent finding that is emerging is that these cluster of attitudes that we see in Western countries is pretty unique,” said Pablo Diego-Rosell, a senior scientist at Gallup.The “worried West”, he added, tends to feature high adoption, high concern and a belief that while AI might be good for the individual, it was less likely to be positive for their country.Across 37 nations surveyed, the median percentage who have never tried AI is still relatively high – 57 per cent.In the US, it’s 32 per cent. But intense use is no predictor of dismay.Some countries where survey respondents said they felt positively toward AI were also rapid adopters.Singapore, China and Israel all have a higher proportion of daily users than the United States.Others have lower rates of use: In Vietnam, only 12 percent of those surveyed use AI daily compared with 23 per cent in the US.Husan Chahal, an AI risk researcher for the National Bureau of Asian Research, said that many governments, especially in Asia, frequently framed the technology first and foremost as a tool for economic development, and were eager to drive AI uptake.“That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re unconcerned about catastrophic risks,” she said. “But those risks may not be as prominent in their policy priorities.”In almost every country polled by Gallup, the heaviest AI users said they were the least anxious about it.For example, 68 per cent of daily AI users in the United States were worried about the technology compared with 80 per cent of less frequent users, and 74 per cent of those who had never used AI.Edward Lim, Vietnam country director for NUS Enterprise and BLOCK71, a start-up accelerator connected to the National University of Singapore, said that views of AI were evolving rapidly and in different directions.He suggested that concerns were increasing in Singapore as the news of AI agents going rogue continued to spread, but in Vietnam, where human talent remains cost-competitive with AI agents, there is mostly excitement.“What strikes me is how open people in Vietnam are to trying new things,” he said, adding, “The poll reflects what I see on the ground.” NYTIMESThis article originally appeared in The New York Times.