Trust in AI is highest in low-income and developing countries, with Japan and China the exceptions.
A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report found a relationship between AI and the Human Development Index (HDI), a social indicator measured in three areas - longevity, healthy living, knowledge, and a decent life - and revealed each country's level of understanding, expectations, and trust in AI.
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Trust in AI Strongest in China, Low-Income Nations, Study Shows - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-20/trust-in-ai-strongest-in-china-developing-countries-un-study
The UNDP has surveyed 21 countries, classifying each country's HDI into four categories: 'low,' 'medium,' 'high,' and 'very high,' and has published multiple survey results.
The survey, which asked about the average use of AI in the fields of education, health, and labor, highlighted indicators of whether AI was used in the past month (blue circle) and whether it is likely to be used in the next year (red circle). According to the UNDP, countries with low and medium HDI scores have lower usage rates but a higher likelihood of using AI, while countries with very high HDI scores have a fair number of people who already use AI but are very unlikely to use it in the future.
According to Bloomberg, in two-thirds of the countries surveyed, more than half of respondents expressed some degree of trust that 'AI is designed for the benefit of society.' In particular, 83% of respondents in China answered that they 'trust' AI. Like China, many of the countries that expressed trust in AI are 'high' development countries based on the UNDP Human Development Index, such as Kyrgyzstan and Egypt. On the other hand, these countries tend to have low incomes.
This is the percentage of people who answered 'I am confident' (black) and 'I am not confident' (blue) to the question 'AI is designed for the benefit of society.' Countries marked with an asterisk (*) are countries with a 'very high' HDI. Countries with a very high HDI have a low percentage of people who answer 'I am confident,' but Japan is an exception, with over half of people saying so.
The majority of survey respondents believe that AI will improve their work productivity. In the chart below, the horizontal axis shows the percentage of people using AI, and the vertical axis shows the percentage of people who believe that AI will improve their work productivity.
There are also concerns that lower-income countries have a lower rate of access to ChatGPT, widening the gap in access to AI.
'If companies develop new technology, but people don't trust it, they won't use it,' said Heriberto Tapia, UNDP's adviser on research and strategic partnerships.
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