Nearly a quarter of Brits cool AI use after 'doomsday' warnings
Andy Burnham used his speech to the UN to say international AI co-operation will be “at the heart of the UK's G20 Presidency next year” in Manchester.
Almost one in four Brits say they have stopped using AI or are using it less because of stark warnings that the technology could one day threaten humanity, LBC can reveal.
Listen to this article
The vast majority of those changing their behaviour said they were using AI less rather than stopping altogether.
Those concerns have been fuelled by a series of warnings, including Anthropic safety researcher Evan Hubinger's claim earlier this month that there was a greater than 10% chance AI “could kill all humans” within the next decade.
King Charles has also spoken of the “existential dangers” of AI falling into the wrong hands, telling technology leaders at a summit in Ayrshire that it must remain “in the service of people and the planet”.
The poll, conducted by polling firm Opinium and shared exclusively with LBC, found around a third of 18-to-34-year-olds had stopped using AI or were using it less because of recent coverage.
Read more: Harry warns about AI as he jokes it ‘got into my speech’ after tech glitch
The findings come as governments face growing questions over how the technology should be regulated.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham used his speech to the UN in New York yesterday to say international AI co-operation will be “at the heart of the UK's G20 Presidency next year” in Manchester.
The LBC poll found 69% of UK adults think there should be more regulation of AI, compared with 6% who think there should be less.
Some 37% said development of the most powerful AI systems should be paused until stronger safeguards are in place, while 18% said development should be stopped altogether.
Priya Minhas is the Associate Director of Political & Social at Opinium. She told LBC: "What we're seeing is a public that is moving beyond curiosity about AI to now a story of more caution.
"In past weeks and months, we've had a lot of very high-profile warnings from people working within the AI industry itself about the potential risks of increasing development.
"And what our polling has been showing us is that there is this sense that that wider conversation is cutting through, and it's cutting through in a way that's not only impacting attitudes, but it's also impacting behaviours."