More than a quarter of adults in the UK have used generative AI such as chatbots, according to a survey that showed 4 million people had also used it at work.
Generative AI, which refers to AI tools that produce compelling text or images in response to human prompts, has captured the public’s imagination since ChatGPT launched in November.
And according to accounting group Deloitte, which published the survey, the adoption rate of the latest generation of AI systems outpace that of voice-assisted speakers like Amazon’s Alexa.
Deloitte said 26% of people ages 16 to 75 have used the generative AI tool, which represents about 13 million people, and one in 10 of those respondents uses it at least once a day.
“It took five years for voice-assisted speakers to achieve the same levels of adoption. It is extremely rare for any emerging technology to achieve these levels of adoption and repeat use so quickly,” said Paul Lee, a Deloitte partner.
A Deloitte survey of 4,150 adults in the UK found that just over half of the population has heard of generative AI, with around one in 10 respondents – the equivalent of around four million people – using it at work.
ChatGPT has become a sensation due to its ability to generate human-looking responses to a range of queries in various styles, and to produce essays, essays, jokes, poetry, and job applications in response to textual prompts.
It was followed by Microsoft’s Bing chatbot, which is based on the same ChatGPT platform, Google’s Bard chatbot and, this week, Cloud 2 from US company Anthropic.
Image generators also took off, materializing in a realistic-looking image of Pope Francis in a bomber jacket, produced by the US startup Midjourney.
However, the ability of these systems to produce persuasive text, image and even sound at scale has led to warnings that they can become tools for creating large-scale disinformation campaigns.
A Deloitte survey found that among those who have used generative AI, more than four in 10 believe it always produces factually correct answers. One of the biggest drawbacks of generative AI systems to date is that they are prone to producing glaring real-world errors.
“Generative AI technology is still relatively nascent, with user interfaces, regulatory environment, legal status, and accuracy still in the works,” Lee said.
