Singaporeans most at ease with automation at home, shopping and mobility

In comparison to this, very few chose fear, confusion, and unnecessary to describe their feelings towards automation.

The report surveyed 19,000 consumers' sentiments and perceptions towards AI across 17 geographies.

What are the survey’s findings?

• The Asia Pacific region has a more favorable outlook on the impact of AI on society compared to western markets.

• Singaporeans are likely to believe the impact of AI on society will be equally positive and negative (51%), and only a quarter (26%) think it will be more positive.

• However, when compared to those who claim to be well informed about the technology, the number that foresees a “positive impact from AI” dramatically increases (to 41%), highlighting the correlation of knowledge with a positive outlook towards AI.

• Consumers believe AI will influence certain industries more greatly than others. The five industries that Singaporeans believe will be greatly impacted are transportation, manufacturing, banking and financial service, communications, and medicine.

• On the other hand, only a small proportion of respondents believe the effect of this technology will be profound to the fields of home, city planning, and government.

• When it comes to the entities people trust to develop ethical automation solutions, consumers across the globe generally trust big, established companies over small ones, and the private sector generally more than the public sphere.

• While globally, governments are among the lowest in terms of trust, Singaporeans are likely to say they trust the government as much as they trust big established technology companies with this responsibility (40% and 39% each).

• Singaporeans are least likely to trust the non-technology sectors and foreign governments in this regard. One in 10 (11%) feel no entity can be trusted at all.