Kiwis remain wary about the use of AI in products and services

A new survey from Ipsos New Zealand has found Kiwis continue to be wary about AI technology.

The global research firm's latest Ipsos AI Monitor shows 65 percent of Kiwis said they felt nervous about products and services that use AI, down only slightly from 66 percent a year earlier.

Just 40 percent said they felt excited about the use of AI, down from 44 percent a year earlier.

Ipsos New Zealand country manager Carin Hercock said the survey, which is part of a global study of attitudes to AI across 32 countries, showed that despite rapidly changing technology New Zealanders' views were not changing quickly.

New Zealand was part of a group of Anglosphere countries, including Australia, Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Ireland, where people were more nervous than excited about AI Hercock said.

"I think it is fundamentally a trust issue. People are seeing that some of the results they get out of AI aren't accurate, and they are also nervous about organisations using AI and not being upfront about it," Hercock said.

When it came to productivity gains from using AI, 57 percent of those surveyed said AI tools had saved them time in the last year.

However, just 40 percent trusted the technology to be free from bias, and only 21 percent trusted AI outputs enough not to double-check them.

Most New Zealanders are also wary about the impact AI could have on the job market, with 58 percent believing AI will make the national job market worse in the next five years.

Transparency was also very important to New Zealanders according to the survey with 85 percent of those surveyed, saying that the use of AI in products and services should be disclosed.

Caren Hercock said that New Zealand needs to work on building trust and transparency around AI use.

"New Zealanders do have a pretty strong understanding of AI. 72 percent of people believe they understand it. So it's probably more about being transparent when you are using it and I know a lot of companies are setting up their own kind of AI policy around being upfront when they are using AI, so that consumers can use it in an informed way" Hercock said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.