6 in 10 urban Indians nervous of impact of AI on products and services; 1 in 2 Indians fear AI will replace their current job: Ipsos Global Views of AI 2023

Almost 6 in 10 urban Indians are nervous of products and services using Artificial Intelligence (AI), while at least 1 in 2 global citizens claim to be nervous about AI. Further there is also some bit of trepidation around the impact of AI at workplace, with at least 1 in 2 urban Indians (51%) fearing AI is likely to replace their current job and 6 in 10 (62%) believing how they do their current job is also likely to transform because of the impact of AI. And 65% urban Indians expect change to percolate in their daily life in the next 3-5 years by products and services using AI.  

These are some of the topline findings of the Ipsos Global Advisor 31 country survey among 22,816 adults on how people across the world feel about artificial intelligence and expect it will impact their life.

AI which is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems is suddenly in the spotlight with the launch of Generative AI, ChatGPT, its widening usage and all the talk about machine learning, automation and its impact on our lives.

Interestingly, awareness around AI was seen to be quite high among urban Indians with at least

2 in 3 Indians (64%) claiming to have a good understanding of AI and further 6 in 10 (62%) claiming to know about the products and services that use AI.

Feelings about AI

Feelings around AI were seen to be a mixed bag: While more number of urban Indians polled were seen to have a lot of positive sentiment towards AI with 2 in 3 (65%) believing products and services using artificial intelligence have more benefits than drawbacks and 66% claimed to be excited about products and services using AI, 58% Indians were nervous about products and services using AI.

Though trust around AI was of cautious optimism: 64% of urban Indians polled said they trust companies using artificial intelligence to protect their personal data; 2 in 3 urban Indians (67%) trust AI to not discriminate or show bias towards any group of people; and 67% said they trust companies using AI as much as they trust other companies.

Will AI improve life?

Urban Indians displayed polarized views on whether AI would make things better in the next 3-5 years: 57% urban Indians believe the amount of time it takes me to get things done will improve due to AI; 1 in 2 Indians (50%) feel their health will improve due to AI; 48% believe their job will get better due to AI in the next 3-5 years; 1 in 2 (54%) believe the Indian economy will get better due to AI; 57% Indian citizens believe their entertainment options (television/video content, movies, music, books etc)  will get better due to AI.   

Summarizing the findings, Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India said, "AI is of late the new buzzword with ChatGPT almost expediting the adoption of AI and most sectors deliberating on how AI can be incorporated in their strategy, to improve how they do business. Our survey presents interesting views around AI across the 31 markets polled and particularly for India – while on one hand there is urgency in adoption of AI and positive sentiment around the positive impact of AI on day to day life, there is also fear palpable around the impact of AI on jobs and how it could lead to disruption. It will be interesting to see how it will playout and unfold. But definitely AI will make the delivery process highly efficient and competitive."              

About the Study

These are the findings of a 31-country Ipsos survey conducted on Ipsos’s Global Advisor online survey platform and, in India, on its hybrid IndiaBus, May 26 – June 9, 2023, among 22,816 adults aged 18 and older in India, 18-74 in Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in 20 other countries.

Each country’s sample consists of ca. 1,000 individuals in each of Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S.; and ca. 500 individuals in each of Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom ca. 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online.

The samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany,
Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S. can be taken as representative of these countries’ general adult population under the age of 75.

The samples in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these markets should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of their population.

India’s sample represents a large subset of its urban population – socio-economic classes A, B, and C, in metros and tier 1-3 town classes across all the country’s four zones.

The data is weighted so that each market’s sample composition best reflects the demographic profile of the adult population according to the most recent census data.

The “global country average” or “31-country average” reflects the average result of all the countries where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result.

Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don't knows or not stated responses.

The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points. For more information on Ipsos’s use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.

The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations.