The unexpected and surprising introduction of AI caused mixed feelings among the Flemings. Concern and curiosity about AI paradoxically go hand in hand.

2023, the year in which we met AI and saw how it is rapidly evolving. How do the Flemings react to this? On the one hand, the results of the Imec Digimeter show that concern about AI is increasing, on the other hand, people are curious about the developments and a large part of Flemish people are adapting this technology into their daily work, which leads to an increase in efficiency. According to the report, this could be the seeds of a new digital divide.

Concerns around AI

Concern about AI can be translated into various forms. Firstly, the rapid developments in the field of AI are causing Flemish people (56 percent) to fear their privacy on the Internet. This is due, on the one hand, to the spread of false information (71 percent), and, on the other hand, to the inability to distinguish between what was made by humans or by AI (64 percent). Finally, 35 percent of Flemish people fear that AI could take over their jobs.

These concerns lead to mixed feelings about AI. When asked generally to what extent they have a positive or negative attitude towards AI, half of Flemish people remain undecided (51 percent). Within the other half, the numbers show a distribution of 27 percent of Flemings with a positive attitude and 21 percent with a negative attitude. The latter recorded an increase compared to the previous year. 31 percent are convinced that AI has more advantages than disadvantages.

Paradoxically, despite increasing negative feelings towards AI, interest in AI continues. More than half of Flemish people are curious about the possibilities of AI or want to learn more about it.

Increase efficiency

48 percent of Flemish people are convinced that they can work faster and more efficiently. Of the proportion of Flemings who use AI services, we see from the figures that 56 percent are looking for efficiency improvements in the work they do as employees or students. Among the group of Flemings for whom AI is already part of their habitual use, we are observing increasing satisfaction with the results of their use. According to Imec, this would bridge the gap between those who use AI and become more efficient and those who do not.