How consumers are using AI and how they see its future
AI is starting to worm its way into our homes and workplaces, but a new study reveals that many consumers are currently unaware of the role it already plays in their lives.
The survey of almost 2,000 US consumers by predictive sales platform InsideSales.com shows that in both their personal and work lives, people are split in their use of AI. Outside the office, more than half (55 percent) report that they have used AI before, but only about 10 percent can be considered early adopters, using AI on a regular basis.
Interestingly use of AI seems to equate to lower incomes. 45 percent of consumers say they have never used AI, however, that number rises to 50 percent when looking at higher income brackets ($125,000 to $149,999). Of the consumers using AI all the time, nearly one quarter earn less than $25,000 (23 percent). This was the largest percentage in all income brackets, with this demographic consistently showing a familiarity with AI.
People mostly interact with AI through services geared towards convenience or entertainment, such as navigation apps (60 percent), video streaming (55 percent) and music streaming (47 percent). These technologies are familiar to consumers, having been in use for a decade or more.
New technology utilizing AI has yet to hit critical mass though. Only 12 percent of consumers surveyed reported finding AI-enhanced assistants like Amazon Alexa useful. Two other areas where AI hasn't yet gained significant traction in consumer's day-to-day lives are ride sharing services (15 percent) and bots in the workplace (one percent).
"2017 is the year AI truly goes mainstream. Over the past year we've seen tech giants place major bets on AI and its applications," says Dave Elkington, CEO and founder of InsideSales.com. "But what this data shows us is that consumers are still confronting the basics of AI, assessing its merits in their home and work lives. This study gives us a baseline to understand how they are interacting with AI, whether consciously or passively, and provides a glimpse into which bets will ultimately pay off in the future."
Lack of trust seems to be the main factor holding back AI adoption. When presented with a list of popular AI services, 42 percent of respondents could not cite a single example of AI that they trust. Levels vary depending on the application, however, while 36 percent trust recommendations for personal entertainment, and 30 percent trust products made by automated industrial machines, but only 16 percent trust AI in medial diagnosis, just nine percent of respondents trust AI with their financials, and a mere four percent trust AI in the HR hiring process.
Despite this though there's optimism for the future. 49 percent of consumers believe AI will lead to medical advancements, 47 percent that it will take over dangerous jobs, and 41 percent believe AI will automate mundane tasks in their personal life.
You can find out much more about the results in the full report which you can get from the InsideSales.com website.
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