Privacy concerns put UK consumers off wider AI use
Hype around AI has never been far from the headlines in recent months. But even as the technology’s supposedly fearsome potential is debated relentlessly by the media, the British public seems less impressed – with most saying they would only expect to use it in cases it is already applied, and one-fifth saying they would not use it at all.
For more than a decade now, technology firms have suggested they are on the brink of a ‘revolutionary’ technological breakthrough. So boundless are the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) – a field combining computer science and datasets, to enable machines to execute problem-solving – that debate around the technology has quickly shifted from consultants reassuring workers they will be assisted by robots, rather than replaced, to hundreds of ‘godfathers’ of AI now informing any press organisation that will listen that the thing they are building is a greater existential threat than global warming.
A new survey from KPMG suggests that UK consumers are a good deal less hyperbolic about AI’s potential, though. Polling 3,000 consumers for their views on AI, the Big Four firm found that most consumers believed the technology’s most best use cases were the things it has already been applied to, while the most prominent issues it presented were ones based not in the realm of science-fiction, but firmly rooted in the well-established realms of human corruption and incompetence.
When asked what they would be willing to use AI for in their daily lives, a 44% chunk of respondents suggested voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa – uses of AI which have been around for more than a decade now – would be AI’s primary function. Close behind, 40% said they would be willing to use AI for transport scenarios, to help navigate. Meanwhile, facial recognition technology used for smartphone security was picked by 38% – and has been a feature of iPhones since 2017, though it had been around in other forms before that too.
As KPMG’s proposed uses became more closely related to personal data, money and security, however, trust seems to notably decline. Only 31% of people said they would use AI to help with administration, such as paying bills, while 29% said they would welcome the use of an AI to assist in shopping. Perhaps unsurprisingly, with hundreds of stories continuing to break about self-driving cars being involved in collisions wherever they are being tested, automated vehicles were lowest on the uses consumers would hope to deploy AI for.
Meanwhile, 22% of consumers said they would not be open to using AI at all. That may sound like the majority of consumers are onboard now, but considering most of the uses they are open to are already in circulation, this does indicate that the technology is in danger of hitting a ceiling, at least in terms of consumer engagement. This seems even more the case when considering the fact 82% of respondents noted at least one concern or barrier to increasing their use of AI.
The largest number of consumers told KPMG that ‘other issues’ were holding them back from engagement – among this 48% may be concerns around job security, plagiarism, and the erosion of the creative sector. However, the largest singular group noted that their biggest barrier to AI use was that they preferred human contact. This may be more than a social preference, too. Hearing a human voice on the end of the phone might be comforting to some customers, and show them they are valued, but it also presents a very tangible representative of a company, with some form of accountability. If an AI misuses a customer’s information, or executes an order that ends up costing them more money, however, everything feels more at arm’s length.
Backing this up, the next highest number of 33% said that data privacy was a key concern when it comes to using AI. That is likely not because they fear HAL 9000 will take over their lives with the information they supply it with, but rather that consumers are aware commercial AI is programmed by the same companies that are already harvesting their data the old-fashioned way, and deploying it for various nefarious purposes.
Ian West, Head of Technology and Alliances at KPMG, said, “Data privacy concerns also seem to be very prevalent amongst consumers. Tech companies and regulators need to look at what can be done to protect data and ease concerns if these technologies are to become widely adopted. This is becoming increasingly important as AI integrates more and more into our everyday lives, whether that be talking to a customer service chatbot or using a voice assistant in your home. As is often the case, regulation has fallen behind the development of the technology and it is important that this catches up if AI is to become mainstream.”
