Most Aussies fear AI ‘creates more problems than it solves’

More than half (57%) of Australians surveyed in a recent poll believe artificial intelligence (AI) will create more problems than it solves, with around one in five (20%) believing the technology poses an existential threat to humanity, pollster Roy Morgan has revealed.

Among the majority who expressed scepticism over AI’s benefits to society, many were concerned over potential job losses resulting from the technology’s unchecked adoption.

One respondent stated that AI would likely lead to an increase in unemployment and “further stupefy the population”.

Another noted that AI would “create more excuses to stop funding our education system” and potentially “[take] away jobs from those who have built their skills around writing.”

Reporting from publisher the Sydney Morning Herald today revealed that corporate regulator ASIC has sought to increase its use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies across its operations, with internal documents stating a priority to “intelligently automate everything we do” as a key tenet of the regulator’s internal digital strategy.

Cited in the report, University of Wollongong associate professor and corporate regulation expert Dr Andy Schmulow blasted ASIC’s forward digital agenda as “part and parcel of the moral bankruptcy” of the regulator.

“Instead of doing their job, they are subcontracting their work and analysis to a machine,” he said.

Respondents to the Roy Morgan survey also feared that, without adequate regulation, the technology is prone to misuse by authorities. As one respondent noted, its use could cause “great harm when used by business and governments in a detrimental, criminal manner.”

Another surveyee added: “In current times when society’s norms and values are so blurred and there are no practical checks on where and how AI is used, it creates many options to abuse this technology.”

Another stated that the technology was “too easy… “[for] corrupt individuals and organisations” to use for “dishonest purposes”.

Thirteen percent of respondents who were sceptical of AI said the technology requires further regulation. A further one in 10 expressed concerns that AI is “open to misuse”, while another one in 10 feared “unknown consequences” from its use.

Those more sanguine around its adoption (43% of respondents) noted the potential for AI to tackle society’s “most difficult social and environmental challenges”, while others recognised that the technology already plays a crucial role today in “nearly all infrastructure that helps create a better society”.

Many, however, also qualified their statements, noting that AI’s benefits to humanity are still “too early to tell”, while another stated that “AI can be extremely beneficial” with appropriate controls.

“People using AI may create problems, not the AI technology itself. It can be so beneficial when used correctly in art, automation, learning. Endless possibilities to grow and aid human capability.”

Those respondents who agreed that AI creates more problems than it solves were around three times more likely to agree that AI poses the risk of human extinction (28%) compared to 10% of those who disagree that AI creates more problems than it solves.

A clear urban/rural divide was also present in the survey results, with 61% of those in regional and rural Australia agreeing that AI creates more problems than it solves, compared to 56% of those in the capital cities.

The Roy Morgan poll covered an Australia-wide cross-section of 1,481 Australians aged over 16 and was conducted in conjunction with the ‘Campaign for AI Safety’.