Only 22% of Australians trust AI implementation - study

Only 22% of Australians trust AI implementation, a new study has found.

The Accenture Technology Vision 2022 report found that 22% of Australian consumers and 35% globally trust how organisations are implementing AI, and 82% believe organisations must be held accountable for their misuse of artificial intelligence.

The data also shows that more than eight in ten Australian executives (86%) say their organisations are already dependent on AI to function effectively, and 96% say AI is becoming pervasive.

Most executives are also worried about security breaches and frauds impacting AI systems, with 100% of Australian executives worrying at some level about deep fakes or disinformation attacks.

Primarily focused on the Metaverse, the research also reveals that most Australians (74%) have never heard of the Metaverse or heard the term but don't know what it means. The Australian lack of knowledge is higher than the global average, with 65% of the worldwide audience saying they don't know the Metaverse. In Australia, only 23% say they know what the Metaverse is, and just 3% believe they already live it.

Despite the low awareness among the general public about the Metaverse, 93% of Australian executives believe it will have a positive impact on their organisations, and 91% agree that the realisation of Web 3.0 over the next decade will fundamentally change how businesses engage with users online.

Most Australian executives (76%) report the number of IoT/edge devices deployed in their organisations significantly or exponentially increased over the past three years, and 80% of executives agree that blockchain will be critical to their organisation's ability to verify the origin of digital content.

The Technology Vision 2022 report identifies four key trends that companies will need to address:

• WebMe: Putting the Me in Metaverse Metaverse and Web3 are poised to reshape the internet.
• Programmable World: Our Planet, Personalized As emerging technologies such as 5G, ambient computing, augmented reality and smart materials advance, digital environments will be increasingly woven into the fabric of our physical world.
• The Unreal: Making Synthetic, Authentic Businesses and environments are increasingly supported by AI-generated data that convincingly reflects the physical world.
• Computing the Impossible: New Machines, New Possibilities The emergence of a new class of machines is empowering organisations across industries to stretch the boundaries of what computers can solve.

Other data from the report also include:

While 3% of Australian executives report the pandemic continues to disrupt their organisation's business plans and operations, another 97% report that their organisation has adapted to the disruption of the pandemic and has found a new normal.

98% of executives agree that emerging tech enables their organisations to have a broader and more ambitious vision.

95% of executives believe that future digital platforms need to offer unified experiences, enabling interoperability of customers' data across different platforms and spaces.

35% of Australian consumers are currently using or planning to use or invest in cryptocurrencies.

72% of executives believe programming the physical environment will emerge as a competitive differentiation in their industry.