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Trust in AI Strongest in China, Low-Income Nations, UN Study Shows (bloomberg.com)

(Friday June 20, 2025 @05:50PM (msmash) from the interesting-differences dept.)


A United Nations study has found a sharp global divide on attitudes toward AI, with trust [1]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.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-20/trust-in-ai-strongest-in-china-developing-countries-un-study



No wonder (Score:1)

by allo ( 1728082 )

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:2)

by Bruce66423 ( 1678196 )

Can I offer you a nice bridge to buy?

Re: (Score:2)

by allo ( 1728082 )

No, but a model that can compete with Qwen3 would be interesting.

When you feel that you have little to lose... (Score:3)

by TWX ( 665546 )

...then there's not a lot of difference compared to the status quo.

education (Score:1)

by Anonymous Coward

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)

by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 )

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)

by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 )

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

Current AI is... (Score:3)

by MpVpRb ( 1423381 )

...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)

by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

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

When China's government says AI is good... (Score:2)

by Aristos Mazer ( 181252 )

... 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)

by ebunga ( 95613 )

I mean, not really surprising based on who's behind the push, but you know.

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