The world’s dominant feeling towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Greece, but also in almost all countries, is skepticism, according to a new survey conducted by Focus Bari | YouGov in Greece (in a representative sample of 1,001 people aged 18-74 in December 2021), as well as in 17 other countries through the YouGov network.
48% in Greece express skepticism/doubt about AI, 32% positive emotions, while 20% negative. 28% say they feel fear/anxiety when they hear the term “Artificial Intelligence”, 23% acceptance, 21% optimism, 18% hope and 15% confused, while 17% consider AI to be completely unnecessary.
The percentage of feelings of skepticism in Greece is the highest of the 18 countries where the survey was conducted, followed by Germany with 40%, England and the USA with 39% and France with 37%. The acceptance rate of AI in Greece is about the international average, while in the percentage of fear towards AI our country is second after Poland (29%).
Only positive views in Greece have 14%, only negative 23% and mixed the vast majority (63%). Dominant are citizens’ concerns about what will happen if the evolution of Artificial Intelligence gets out of human control (50%), as well as the fear that it may find itself in “the wrong hands” (51%).
With an overview, the Greek public is relatively in the middle regarding the impact of Artificial Intelligence on society. Compared to the average of the other 17 countries, Greece’s view of the impact of AI is relatively similar.
The positive side of Artificial Intelligence, in the eyes of 48% of Greeks, are the revolutionary positive changes it is expected to bring to people’s daily lives, as well as the “transformation” it will bring to several sectors, such as medicine (72%), telecommunications (71%), industry (63%) and banking-financial services (63%).
But the human factor and the human approach are still considered necessary/irreplaceable in a multitude of traditional disciplines. There are few sectors in our country that the public believes can rely more on automation than on the human factor and the specialized professional.
However, only 9% – one in ten Greeks – say they know really well the capabilities and everything that has to do with AI and its capabilities. A significant proportion (46%) say they know enough, but almost one in two (45%) knows almost nothing. Those who know more about Artificial Intelligence, however, have a more positive opinion and expectations, compared to those who do not have enough relevant information about the potential of AI.