The United States, India and the United Kingdom are some of the countries with the highest fear scores when it comes to the fear of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new study conducted by Blocles4u reveals.
The Blocles4U research team analyzed more than 1000 keywords, and the search volumes for AI-related queries, to determine which countries are most afraid of AI.
Searches based on fear intent, such as “why AI is dangerous,” “is AI safe,” and “how dangerous is AI,” were analyzed in countries. The results were then turned into a fear scale to determine the final ranking of the most afraid countries. The fear scale took into account the search volume of each keyword or phrase and the past 3-month growth of each.
The United States had the highest fear score of 393, followed by India with a score of 205, and the United Kingdom with a score of 81.
Findings were split up by continents:
North America: The U.S ranks at number one of the Fear Index. According to Blocles4U, as the birthplace of OpenAI and home to a plethora of AI research organizations, AI being a popular topic in North America isn’t a surprise. However, Canada was number five on the list, with a score of 38, indicating a lower level of fear.
Europe: The U.K. and Germany represent Europe in the study. The Fear Index revealed scores of 81 and 28, respectively. Blocles4U suggests the that due to the EU’s strict regulations on data privacy and AI, lower levels of fear in the country compared to the U.S., for example, can be expected.
Asia: India, the Philippines, and Vietnam show different concerns about AI, with Fear Scores of 205, 60, and 10, respectively. Asia has made moves in innovation in AI, with countries like India and China leading the charge, the study says.
Australia: With a Fear Score of 12, Australia shows the second lowest level of concern about AI among the countries analyzed.
The study used the top searched keywords to understand the root cause for these concerns related to AI.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the common themes and keywords:
Danger & Safety: Queries like “why AI is dangerous,” “is AI dangerous,” and “will AI kill us” were some of the questions searched regarding AI’s potential harm to humanity.
Job Replacement: A popular topic of conversation included what impact AI could have on jobs. Queries such as “will AI replace humans,” “AI replacing humans,” and “what jobs will AI replace” indicate fears about AI taking over human jobs. There were also concerns about the specific type of jobs, with searches like “will AI replace teachers,” and “will AI replace writers.”
Sentience & Consciousness: Queries like “can AI become self aware,” “can AI become sentient,” and “does AI have consciousness” reveal that many are curious about AI’s potential to develop human-like qualities and emotions.
Ethics and Social Impact: Searches such as “ethics and risk of AI,” “social impacts of artificial intelligence,” and “negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society” highlight the growing awareness and concerns about the ethical implications and societal effects of AI technology.
AI in Education: As ChatGPT continues to rise in popularity, queries like “negative effects of artificial intelligence in education,” and “artificial intelligence in education” are extremely topical. The interest in and concerns about the benefits and challenges of the role of AI in education are being explored day to day.
AI and Emotions: Questions such as “can AI have emotions,” “does AI have feelings,” and “can AI be conscious” demonstrate the curiosity about AI’s capacity to experience emotions and the potential implications of this development, the study reports.
