Six out of 10 Koreans believe AI brings more benefits than risks: Survey

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Nearly six out of 10 people in South Korea believe that the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) technology outweigh its threats and risks, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Wednesday the findings of an online survey that was conducted from June 12 to July 12. The survey of 765 respondents focused on the safety, reliability, and ethics of AI.

The survey showed that 57.3 percent of the respondents said that potential benefits of AI innovations outweigh the risks, and 23.7 percent said the risks and benefits were half and half. The remaining 19.1 percent believed potential risks outweigh the benefits.

When asked about the potential benefits of the new technology, 30.6 percent of the respondents cited “making life easier,” with 19.6 percent saying, “making work more efficient.”

On the other hand, 18.5 percent described “harms caused by malfunctions and other technical errors” as one of the potential risks, and 18.3 percent cited “harms caused by malicious use of AI applications.”

In a questionnaire on regulatory regulation and government policy against AI, 55 percent of respondents noted that innovation is more important than regulation, with 34 percent considering the most important government policy to be “specific laws and ethical standards tailored to the AI sector.”

Of the total respondents, 55.7 percent were male, and 44.3 percent were female.