Technology
Visualizing Global Attitudes Towards AI
Comparing Public Sentiment Towards AI, by Country
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the fastest growing and most disruptive technologies in the world today. Because it has the potential to drastically impact society, it’s important to measure how people are feeling towards it.
This infographic visualizes survey data from market research firm, Ipsos, to see how attitudes towards AI varies by country. By including each country’s GDP per capita, we can see that wealthier populations are more skeptical about products and services that use the technology.
Data and Methodology
This data is based on a 28-country survey of 19,504 adults aged 18 to 74. Polling took place between November and December 2021, and the results were published in January 2022.
This survey took place before the recent explosion in popularity of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Midjourney, but forms the foundation for how people view this rapidly improving technology.
The table below lists the percentage of respondents who agreed with the following statement:
“Products and services using artificial intelligence have more benefits than drawbacks”
| Country | % Agreeing With Statement | GDP per capita |
|---|---|---|
| China | 78% | $12,556 |
| Saudi Arabia | 76% | $23,186 |
| India | 71% | $2,257 |
| Peru | 70% | $6,622 |
| Malaysia | 65% | $11,109 |
| Mexico | 65% | $10,046 |
| Colombia | 64% | $6,104 |
| Chile | 63% | $16,265 |
| South Korea | 62% | $34,998 |
| Türkiye | 60% | $9,661 |
| Brazil | 57% | $7,507 |
| South Africa | 57% | $7,055 |
| Argentina | 55% | $10,636 |
| Russia | 53% | $12,195 |
| Spain | 53% | $30,104 |
| Italy | 50% | $35,658 |
| Hungary | 49% | $18,728 |
| Poland | 48% | $18,000 |
| Japan | 42% | $39,313 |
| Sweden | 40% | $61,029 |
| Belgium | 38% | $51,247 |
| UK | 38% | $46,510 |
| Australia | 37% | $60,443 |
| Germany | 37% | $51,203 |
| United States | 35% | $70,249 |
| Netherlands | 33% | $57,768 |
| Canada | 32% | $51,988 |
| France | 31% | $43,659 |
GDP per capita as of 2021. Source: World Bank
Ipsos notes that their samples from developing economies like China and India were “more urban, more educated, and more affluent than the general population”. Thus, the results for these countries likely reflect the more tech-savvy segments of their population.
Further Survey Results
Respondents were asked additional questions about AI, which we’ve included in the tables below. Let’s start with this statement:
“Products and services using artificial intelligence make my life easier”
| Country | % Agreeing With Statement | GDP per capita |
|---|---|---|
| China | 87% | $12,556 |
| Saudi Arabia | 80% | $23,186 |
| Peru | 74% | $6,622 |
| South Korea | 74% | $34,998 |
| Mexico | 73% | $10,046 |
| India | 72% | $2,257 |
| Colombia | 71% | $6,104 |
| Malaysia | 71% | $11,109 |
| Türkiye | 71% | $9,661 |
| Chile | 70% | $16,265 |
| South Africa | 67% | $7,055 |
| Brazil | 65% | $7,507 |
| Russia | 64% | $12,195 |
| Argentina | 59% | $10,636 |
| Spain | 59% | $30,104 |
| Poland | 58% | $18,000 |
| Italy | 54% | $35,658 |
| Japan | 52% | $39,313 |
| Hungary | 50% | $18,728 |
| Belgium | 49% | $51,247 |
| Netherlands | 47% | $57,768 |
| Australia | 46% | $60,443 |
| Sweden | 46% | $61,029 |
| Germany | 45% | $51,203 |
| UK | 45% | $46,510 |
| Canada | 44% | $51,988 |
| United States | 41% | $70,249 |
| France | 39% | $43,659 |
As expected, we see a similar trend as in the previous question’s results. It seems that developing countries are embracing AI to greater lengths.
Next, we’ll look at a more forward-looking statement:
“Products and services using AI will profoundly change my daily life in the next 3-5 years”.
| Country | % Agreeing With Statement | GDP per capita |
|---|---|---|
| China | 80% | $12,556 |
| Saudi Arabia | 80% | $23,186 |
| South Korea | 76% | $34,998 |
| India | 74% | $2,257 |
| Türkiye | 73% | $9,661 |
| South Africa | 72% | $7,055 |
| Malaysia | 71% | $11,109 |
| Peru | 71% | $6,622 |
| Chile | 67% | $16,265 |
| Colombia | 65% | $6,104 |
| Mexico | 65% | $10,046 |
| Brazil | 61% | $7,507 |
| Argentina | 60% | $10,636 |
| Russia | 60% | $12,195 |
| Poland | 56% | $18,000 |
| Spain | 56% | $30,104 |
| Hungary | 55% | $18,728 |
| Italy | 53% | $35,658 |
| Japan | 53% | $39,313 |
| Netherlands | 53% | $57,768 |
| Belgium | 52% | $51,247 |
| Australia | 50% | $60,443 |
| Sweden | 50% | $61,029 |
| UK | 46% | $46,510 |
| United States | 46% | $70,249 |
| France | 45% | $43,659 |
| Canada | 44% | $51,988 |
| Germany | 44% | $51,203 |
Once again, populations from wealthier countries are at the lower end of the results. This could be due to societal factors (differing attitudes towards technology), economic structure, or some combination of both.
To elaborate on economic structure, let’s look at the world’s two biggest economies, the U.S. and China. The following table shows the distribution of each country’s workforce across the three major sectors.
| Economic Sector | U.S. | China |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 1% | 25% |
| Industry | 20% | 28% |
| Services | 79% | 47% |
As of 2019. Source: Statista
Developing economies such as China have a larger proportion of agricultural and industrial employment, while advanced economies like the U.S. are typically more services oriented. Structural differences such as these could have an impact on how a population views AI.
Technology
How Long it Took for Popular Apps to Reach 100 Million Users
Threads reached 100 million users in just five days. Here is a timeline of how long other popular platforms took to reach the milestone.
How Long it Took for Popular Apps to Reach 100 Million Users
Of Twitter’s many new rivals, Meta’s newest social media platform Threads has established its presence with a bang.
According to Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Threads took only 5 days to reach the key threshold of 100 million users. It achieved this milestone through organic demand—and no paid promotions required—smashing all previous records.
But how long have other popular platforms—TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to name a few—taken to build their user base? Pulling data from PwC and Yahoo, we rank how long it took popular platforms to get to 100 million users.
Ranking Every Apps Journey to 100 Million Users
In first place, Threads has a significant lead over the rest of the pack with its five day achievement, and may have built a significant moat in holding on to this record.
Firstly, its launch coincided with Twitter’s viewing limit decision, and rode the wave of dissatisfaction aimed at Twitter’s current owner, Elon Musk.
Secondly, new users on Threads need an Instagram account to register, thus eliminating sign-up barriers and leveraging Instagram’s 1.2 billion-strong user base.
Here’s the journey length of popular platforms to attaining 100 million users:
| Rank | Platform | Launch | Time to 100M Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Threads | 2023 | 5 days |
| 2 | ChatGPT | 2022 | 2 months |
| 3 | TikTok | 2017 | 9 months |
| 4 | 2011 | 1 year, 2 months | |
| 5 | 2010 | 2 years, 6 months | |
| 6 | Myspace | 2003 | 3 years |
| 7 | 2009 | 3 years, 6 months | |
| 8 | Snapchat | 2011 | 3 years, 8 months |
| 9 | YouTube | 2005 | 4 years, 1 month |
| 10 | 2004 | 4 years, 6 months | |
| 11 | Spotify | 2006 | 4 years, 7 months |
| 12 | Telegram | 2013 | 5 years, 1 month |
| 13 | 2006 | 5 years, 5 months | |
| 14 | Uber | 2011 | 5 years, 10 months |
| 15 | 2010 | 5 years, 11 months | |
| 16 | Google Translate | 2006 | 6 years, 6 months |
| 17 | World Wide Web | 1991 | 7 years |
| 18 | 2003 | 7 years, 11 months |
Ranked second, Open AI’s ChatGPT launched in November 2022 and hit 100 million users by the start of the new year. ChatGPT introduced the incredible capabilities of large language models to the masses, prompting a rush of sign-ups, and reviving old conversations around the potential consequences of AI.
Coming in at third place, ByteDance’s TikTok took just 9 months to reach 100 million users after its launch in 2017. Like Threads, TikTok benefited from another app, accessing popular lip syncing app Musical.ly’s existing user base after it was acquired and folded into TikTok.
WeChat and Instagram round out the top-five, also with interesting advantages. WeChat, an instant messaging platform similar to WhatsApp, benefited from its unique access to China’s notoriously closed internet market of 500 million users in 2012.
Meanwhile, Meta acquired Instagram when the photo-sharing platform had 30 million users, and more than tripled that number past 100 million in just one year.
And while Facebook ranks solidly middle-of-the-pack for fastest to 100 million users, it remains the platform with the most monthly active accounts, at nearly 3 billion. In fact, Meta’s lessons learned from Facebook have been well-leveraged, and the company owns 4 of the fastest apps to register 100 million users.
So What Does Threads Success Mean for Twitter?
Coming back to Threads’ incredible feat, however, it’s still early days whether an en-masse switch from Twitter is on the cards for Meta’s newest platform.
For one, Threads has faced significant criticism due to its intensive data collection practices and lack of accessibility features. It also is missing some key features from its rival, including trending topics, hashtags, and direct messages.
Meanwhile Elon Musk has been less than pleased with Threads’ success, deeming it a copy of Twitter and even threatening legal action.
Competition is fine, cheating is not
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2023
So where does this leave the increasingly-crowded social media space? The next decade will set the stage for either more platform consolidation, or even further audience fragmentation.
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