Russians Don't Want AI to Govern the State

VCIOM has released the results of a study on Russians' public perception of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The survey involved 1,600 respondents aged 18 and older. Overall, 52%, or one in two, trust AI. Younger Russians are the most trusting of new technologies: 79% of respondents aged 18 to 24 are willing to rely on AI.

Image source generated by the DALL•E 3 neural network

Those who trust AI highlighted the top 5 reasons for their trust:

the ability to delegate life-threatening jobs to AI (34%);
improving and simplifying life and work (33%);
AI's objectivity and impartiality (32%);
lower probability of errors compared to humans (23%);
AI's speed and quality of work compared to humans (22%).

The number of those who distrust AI has increased by 6% since 2022, reaching 38% of all respondents. Russians who distrust artificial intelligence technologies cited their top 5 reasons for arguing their position:

AI malfunctions and errors (28%);
AI getting out of human control (26%);
the possibility of using AI for selfish purposes (23%);
the risk of data leaks collected by AI (21%);
degradation of the population caused by the development of such technologies (20%).

Most often, respondents welcome the use of AI in industry (80%), science (76%), construction (72%), energy (72%), and trade (72%), as well as in leisure and entertainment (70%), and in transport and housing and communal services (66% each). But there are areas where even supporters of artificial intelligence oppose its use. This is primarily government administration: 53% have a negative attitude towards AI in this area, and only 37% have a positive attitude.

The number of those who hoped that AI would bring social equality closer has decreased over two years: now there are only 18% of them, but in 2022 there were 27%. There are also fewer supporters of the use of AI in the economy, security, and healthcare: compared to 2022, there are 5-8% fewer of them. At the same time, 81% of respondents believe that security decisions using artificial intelligence should be made in the interests of the majority or the entire society.

VCIOM specialists also asked respondents to express their views on what consequences they see from the introduction of AI into the life of modern humans. Of the negative aspects, Russians most often note:

the use of AI for selfish purposes (65%);
the collection of data that can be stolen (61%);
making incorrect decisions (58%);
lack of accountability for AI decisions (57%).

The positive aspects include saving time by delegating routine tasks to AI (66%), increasing labor productivity (65%), and increasing free time from routine and monotonous work (64%). Often, respondents expect that with the development of AI technologies, life will become more comfortable (59%) and safer (53%).

It is noteworthy that Russians see both potential benefits (92% of respondents) and potential harm (95% of respondents) in the development of artificial intelligence technologies with equal frequency.