Engagement with artificial intelligence (AI) is focused on the practical benefits that can be derived from its use, but many people worry that AI could diminish the value of human skills such as critical thinking, according to a survey of over 15,000 people.
“People’s engagement with AI today reflects a focus on practicality. Most are not interested in AI in itself; they want to know how it can help them meet existing goals,” according to EY’s AI Sentiment Index Study, which surveyed respondents across 15 regions. But there are clear boundaries around where people feel less comfortable adopting AI.
The AI Sentiment Index — how EY measured each region’s comfort with AI — calculated a global average score of 68 out of 100. This falls under a sceptical to neutral rating of 26 to 74, in comparison to regions with “comfortable” levels of engagement at 75 or higher, which include India (88), China (88), the United Arab Emirates (87), Saudi Arabia (86), South Korea (79), and Brazil (76).
Users are purposeful and driven by the benefits of those tools. Most people (82%) are already using AI to improve how they live and work, the report said. Currently, AI is more frequently used for straightforward, efficiency-driven tasks, where the application’s purpose is highly specific.
However, 57% of people feel comfortable using those tools, which is creating an adoption gap — a space between how willing someone is to use AI and how much they actually do. “The fear isn’t so much about AI replacing people, it’s about AI diminishing the value of people thinking critically, making choices, and having autonomy,” the report said.
Familiarity increases comfort and confidence
People who use AI often are more willing to explore its potential in other applications, according to the report.
Encouraging curiosity around AI is about understanding motivations for using those tools, the report acknowledged, and organisations should focus on how to design tools to accommodate employees’ needs.
Empowering employees is also about giving them a voice, Zach Rattner, co-founder and chief technology officer of global company Yembo, said on an FM podcast episode about AI’s potential.
“I think it’s valuable if everybody … has a voice and has some experience under their belt and can speak credibly to the risks that they want to mitigate, the powers that they want to magnify,” Rattner said. “It’s a great equaliser because a lot of the people that are seeing the benefit of AI are not only in senior leadership positions, [but also those in] … day-to-day entry-level jobs.”
Discomfort also lies with fears around agency, privacy
The goal of AI playing a greater role in organisations is a common one, but many respondents want people to remain in charge of decision-making. They are wary of emerging technology’s perceived capacity to erode “human agency”, the report said.
Most respondents (64%) are comfortable with agentic AI predicting emergency situations and protecting against fraud (63%), the report said. But in areas where AI could improve efficiency, such as evaluating insurance or fraud claims, comfort levels are slightly below average at 46%.
Agency concerns also relate to data privacy. Many respondents don’t want AI to fully replace human judgement in “high-stakes personal interactions”, the report found, and only 41% are comfortable with companies using their personal data to make tailored product or service recommendations.
For organisations, success depends on how AI can amplify human agency rather than undermine it, the report said. “The opportunity lies in ensuring AI supports human connection rather than replacing it, helping people to feel more confident in using AI while creating meaningful ways for people to interact, learn, and grow.”
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.
