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Aussies more scared than excited about AI
Fear the tech replaces workers instead of supporting them.
Nina Hendy
Info Age
May 01 2025 11:25 AM
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/aussies-more-scared-than-excited-about-ai.html
It might be billed as the biggest technological advancement since the
dawn of the internet, but Australians are developing a genuine mistrust
and fear of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Just 30 per cent of Australians believe the benefits of AI outweigh the
risks.
Australia also trails behind other countries in realising the benefits
of AI (55 per cent vs 73 per cent globally report experiencing benefits).
This public fear and mistrust is being blamed for slower adoption rates,
with 37 per cent of respondents to a global survey revealing that they
have personally experienced or observed negative outcomes ranging from
inaccuracy, misinformation and manipulation, deskilling and loss or
privacy or intellectual property.
Released this week, the global study, Trust, attitudes and use of
artificial intelligence: a global study 2025, is the most comprehensive
into the public’s trust, use and attitudes towards AI.
[ Gillespie, N., Lockey S., Ward T., Macdade A., & Hassed G. (2025)
'Trust, atttudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study'
The University of Melbourne and KPMG, 29 April 2025, DOI
10.26188/28822919, at
https://kpmg.com/au/en/home/insights/2025/04/trust-in-ai-global-insights-2025.html
]
Researchers, led by Professor Nicole Gillespie, chair of Trust at
Melbourne Business School, asked 48,340 people across 47 countries what
they thought of AI, revealing that as well as being wary, Australia
ranks the lowest globally on acceptance, excitement and optimism about
adopting AI, alongside New Zealand and the Netherlands.
The research also found that half of employees are using AI in ways that
contravene company policies, including uploading sensitive company
information into free public AI tools such as ChatGPT.
“Psychological safety around the greater use of AI in work is critical.
“People need to feel comfortable to openly share and experiment with how
they are using AI in their work and learn from others for greater
transparency and accountability,” Professor Gillespie said.
Accessible training, workplace support and public education is required
to build trust, Professor Gillespe said.
“AI literacy consistently emerges in our research as a cross-cutting
enabler: it’s associated with greater use, trust, acceptance and
critical engagement with AI output and more benefits from AI use,
including better performance in the workplace.”
...
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Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected]
T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Visiting Professorial Fellow UNSW Law & Justice
Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University
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