Trust in AI Strongest in China, Low-Income Nations, UN Study Shows (bloomberg.com) 19
A United Nations study has found a sharp global divide on attitudes toward AI, with trust strongest in low-income countries and skepticism high in wealthier ones. From a report: More than 6 out of 10 people in developing nations said they have faith that AI systems serve the best interests of society, according to a UN Development Programme survey of 21 countries seen by Bloomberg News. In two-thirds of the countries surveyed, over half of respondents expressed some level of confidence that AI is being designed for good.
In China, where steady advances in AI are posing a challenge to US dominance, 83% of those surveyed said they trust the technology. Like China, most developing countries that reported confidence in AI have "high" levels of development based on the UNDP's Human Development Index, including Kyrgyzstan and Egypt. But the list also includes those with "medium" and "low" HDI scores like India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
In China, where steady advances in AI are posing a challenge to US dominance, 83% of those surveyed said they trust the technology. Like China, most developing countries that reported confidence in AI have "high" levels of development based on the UNDP's Human Development Index, including Kyrgyzstan and Egypt. But the list also includes those with "medium" and "low" HDI scores like India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
No wonder (Score:1)
If you look at the latest good releases, you read China a lot. Of course there is more trust, when the AI is better.
Trust Chinese new reports? (Score:3)
Can I offer you a nice bridge to buy?
Re: (Score:2)
No, but a model that can compete with Qwen3 would be interesting.
When you feel that you have little to lose... (Score:3)
...then there's not a lot of difference compared to the status quo.
education (Score:2, Insightful)
Those that lack the educational resources need the most help. If you can't spot the hallucinations because you don't know any better then AI is pure gold.
It depends on what AI is used for... (Score:3, Insightful)
In China, AI generally is used for positive things, better healthcare, better management. It is viewed as part of modernization, and is something useful for society as a whole.
In a developing nation, AI is a force multiplier. One can use it to better design a city, route traffic, figure out what roads need improving, and make the best use of limited resources.
However, in the US, AI is viewed in a negative light, because it is commonly used to disrupt communications, spew fake news or propaganda, be used as a tool for committing crimes or scams, and is used as an excuse to take jobs. In the US, AI is viewed as doing little to help, but a lot to make peoples' life worse, be it having to deal with more bots, more criminals with more convincing scams, more jobs lost. AI has also been viewed in the US media as a negative thing... just look at all the movies and series about AI that has gone malicious (Terminator, MCP, etc.) This is why AI has so much pushback. It isn't the peoples' fault... it is how AI is used against them.
Re: (Score:2)
There is a difference between what AI is used for and its perception. China, Japan, and other countries, the people have not been raised or have to deal with AI as a threat to them, be it scammers, bots, propagandists, fake news spewers, and such.
What AI is really used for is different, but the perceptions by people in the US tend to be quiet negative, especially adding to the list artists and musicians realizing that their work is often felt irrelevant due to AI drawings.
I will state the AC is right, but
Re: (Score:2)
In Western societies, the average person may not necessarily be better informed, but may have better critical thinking skills and the access to additional resources which enable them to not only question but also verify the accuracy and truthfulness of AI-generated content (whether they actually do so is another discussion).
In Eastern societies, the average person may not necessarily be better informed, but may have better critical thinking skills and the access to additional resources which enable them to not only question but also verify the accuracy and truthfulness of AI-generated content (whether they actually do so is another discussion).
The result is that they aren't constantly bombarded by hyperbolic, alarmist clickbait. Instead they are also hearing what it will allow then to accomplish in the future rather than what
Current AI is... (Score:3)
...useful for some things, imperfect, and rapidly improving.
Future AI is unknown and unpredictable, but this doesn't stop the hypemongers, pundits and futurists.
The general public has no facts to base their opinion on, so the opinion is worthless.
Re: (Score:2)
They can definitely be useful and more trustworthy than humans in many situations.
I've generally found LLMs to be less biased in fact-based questions than your typical news outlet, which consistently push whatever narrative they're in favor of at the time. For example, if I search for "was an Iranian hospital bombed by Israel?", all the results are about the Isreali hospital being attacked in retaliation. But if I ask the LLM, it tells me that there's been 3 Iranian hospitals bombed so far and Israel claims
Re: Current AI is... (Score:2)
Which... isnt true. And youre ironically proving why people should be skeptical of AI "news."
The Iranians have claimed damage to three hospitals, but have themselves stated it was secondary damage from attacks on nearby "workshops." Presumably for weapons or electronics components. Israel has not been accused of directly targeting hospitals in Iran, nor has the Israeli government stated they consider Iranian hospitals legitimate targets. That could change of course, as the Iranians blatantly targeted an Isr
Re: (Score:2)
but have themselves stated it was secondary damage from attacks on nearby "workshops."
Source?
Israel has not been accused of directly targeting hospitals in Iran
From Al Jazeera [aljazeera.com]:
"Farabi Hospital in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran was targeted by the Israeli regime’s aggressive attacks," said Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It does appear damaged in this video [nbcnews.com]. Other pro-Iranian news sources I was able to find also claimed it was a targeted attack.
The fact that there is at least one hospital damaged by Israeli strikes means the LLM is not entirely incorrect as far as we can tell with available information. Moreover, if you were a neutral party to the conflict, you should consider these Iranian claims to be just as legitimate (or illegitimate) as the Israeli claim that Iran targeted their hospital. So I w
When China's government says AI is good... (Score:3)
... then the people will make sure they believe that AI is good. They will believe something else when told to believe otherwise. It's in their best interests to make sure they believe the party line. The USA has many problems, but reflexive alignment with government messaging is not one of them.
So AI is the new colonialism? (Score:2)
I mean, not really surprising based on who's behind the push, but you know.