To celebrate the launch of YouGov’s new European Political monthly survey, a new YouGov study of seven EU countries – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain – examines public attitudes to the technology.
Europeans prioritise regulation over development of AI
This February’s AI Action Summit in Paris saw national and EU leaders adopt a ‘regulation out, investment in' stance in order to avoid falling behind other nations, with Emmanuel Macron saying it “It's very clear we have to resynchronise with the rest of the world.”
However, European publics are clear that effective regulation of AI is a greater priority than encouraging development, with a majority in each nation (from 55-73%) saying that “it is more important that governments put effective regulations in place, even if this slows down the development of AI”.
Only 11-20% take the opposing view that “it is more important that new technology such as AI can be developed freely, even if this means that the industry is less regulated”.
What do Europeans think the impact of AI will be?
While the media narrative around AI often adopts a negative tone – not least with stories about AI bringing about the end of human civilisation – European expectations of the social impact that AI will have are mixed.
Spaniards and Romanians are the most optimistic, with 50% and 48% respectively expecting the technology to have a positive impact on society, compared to 30-31% who disagree.
By contrast, Italians, Poles and the Dutch are near-evenly divided, while the French prove to be the most sceptical, with 44% expecting AI to have a negative impact on society compared to 31% anticipating a positive impact.
On the economic front, the balance tilts more towards the positive – although greater numbers are unsure or think there will be no impact than in the social effects question. Only in France do more people think the impact of AI on the European economy will be negative (36%) than positive (22%). Spaniards again prove to be the most optimistic, with 39% expecting a positive outcome versus 21% a negative one.
How many Europeans are using AI?
Across the countries surveyed, at least almost half say they ever use AI for leisure or personal activities, with the Dutch and Spaniards most likely to do so (64% and 61%, respectively).
However, frequent use is far less common, with only 8-12% in each country saying they use AI daily, rising to 27-43% for weekly usage.
Fewer Europeans are using AI at work, with between 29-49% saying they ever do so, falling to 6-13% on a daily basis. Again, the Dutch are the most likely to have integrated AI at work.
How do Europeans think the tech sector compares with the US and China?
Development of artificial intelligence – as well as the wider tech sector – will be key for economic growth in the 21st century, but Europe is lagging behind the US and China. French economist Philippe Aghion – who was jointly-awarded this year’s Nobel Prize for economics – last week called on Europe to “wake up” or face ‘inexorable decline’, but did stress that it was still possible for the continent to catch up with its rivals.
At present, the most common sentiment in each country surveyed is that European companies are competitive with their US counterparts, but in most cases Europeans believe that they are inferior to Chinese firms. Few (5-13%) think European tech firms are superior to those from either nation.
Full results coming shortly
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