While politicians tout AI’s promise of growth and efficiency, a new report reveals a public trust deficit in the technology. Many are deeply sceptical, creating a major headache for governments’ plans.
A deep dive by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) and Ipsos has put some hard numbers on this feeling of unease. It turns out that a lack of trust is the biggest single reason people are shying away from using generative AI. It’s not just a vague worry; it’s a genuine barrier holding back the AI revolution politicians are so excited about.
Public trust in AI increases with usage
The report shows an interesting split in how we see AI. On one hand, more than half of us have dabbled with generative AI tools in the last year. That’s pretty fast adoption for a technology that was barely on the public radar a few years ago.
However, nearly half the country has never used AI, either at home or for work. This creates a huge divide in how people feel about AI and its growth. The data suggests the more you use AI, the more you tend to trust it.
For people who have never used AI, 56 percent see it as a risk to society. But for the folks who use it every week, that number is cut by more than half, dropping to 26 percent. It’s a classic case of familiarity breeding comfort. If you’ve never had a positive experience with AI, it’s much easier to believe the scary headlines. Seeing its limitations first-hand also helps to counter fears that everyone is about to be replaced by AI.
This divide in public trust towards AI is also shaped by who you are. Younger people are generally more optimistic, while older generations are warier. Professionals in the tech world feel ready for what’s coming, but those in sectors like healthcare and education? They’re feeling far less confident, even though their jobs are likely to be more affected by AI growth.
It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it
Among the most revealing parts of the report is that our feelings about AI change depending on the job it’s doing.
We’re quite happy for AI to help sort out traffic jams or speed up cancer detection. Why? Because we can see the direct, positive benefit to our lives. It’s technology that’s clearly working for us.
But ask people how they feel about AI monitoring their performance at work or being used to target them with political ads, and the mood sours instantly. The acceptance plummets. This shows our concerns aren’t really about the growth of AI itself, but about its purpose.
We want to know that AI is being used for good and that rules are in place so that big tech companies aren’t left completely in the driver’s seat.
How do we increase public trust in AI to support growth?
The TBI report doesn’t just point out the problem; it offers a clear path forward to build what it calls “justified trust.”
First, the government needs to change the way it talks about AI. Forget abstract promises of boosting GDP. Instead, talk about what it means for people’s lives: getting a hospital appointment faster, making public services easier to use, or cutting down your daily commute. Show, don’t just tell about the benefits of AI growth.
Next, prove it works. When AI is used in public services, we need to see the evidence that it’s actually making things better for real people, not just more efficient for a spreadsheet. The measure of success should be our experience, not just a technical benchmark.
Of course, none of this works without proper rules and training. Regulators need the power and know-how to keep AI in check, and we all need access to training to feel confident using these new tools safely and effectively. The goal is to make AI something we can all work with, not something that feels like it’s being done to us.
Building public trust in AI to support its growth is about building trust in the people and institutions in charge of it. If the government can show that it’s committed to making AI work for everyone, it might just bring the public along for the ride.
See also: Trump jokes about AI while US and UK sign new tech deal
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