Study Finds Strong Support for Government Restrictions on AI Among Europeans

Privately held companies have been racing to develop AI technology, resulting in the creation of systems like Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.

Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images

A new study from Spain’s IE University reveals that a majority of Europeans are calling for government restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) to address concerns about job security.

The study, which surveyed 3,000 Europeans, shows that 68% of respondents want their governments to implement rules that protect jobs from the increasing automation brought about by AI.

This represents an 18% increase from a similar study conducted by IE University in 2022, where only 58% of people expressed the same opinion on regulating AI.

“The most common fear is the potential for job loss,” said Ikhlaq Sidhu, dean of the IE School of SciTech at IE University.

The report was produced by IE University’s Center for the Governance of Change, an applied-research institution focused on enhancing the understanding, anticipation, and management of innovation.

Notably, Estonia is the only country where this sentiment decreased by 23% compared to last year. In Estonia, only 35% of the population supports government-imposed limits on AI.

However, in general, the majority of Europeans are in favor of government regulations to mitigate the risk of job losses resulting from AI.

“Public sentiment has been increasing towards acceptance of regulation for AI, particularly due to the recent rollouts of generative AI products such as ChatGPT and others,” Sidhu added.

This trend aligns with governments globally working on regulations for AI algorithms.

In the European Union, the proposed AI Act is set to introduce a risk-based approach to AI governance, applying varying levels of regulation according to the technology’s applications.

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Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to host an AI safety summit at Bletchley Park on November 1 and 2. Bletchley Park is renowned as the home of the codebreakers who played a crucial role in ending World War II.

Sunak aims to position Britain as the “geographical home” for AI safety regulation, capitalizing on the country’s strong heritage in science and technology.

Concerningly, the study by IE University reveals that the majority of Europeans lack confidence in distinguishing between AI-generated content and genuine content, with only 27% believing they can identify AI-generated fake content.

Among older citizens in Europe, 52% admitted to lacking confidence in their ability to differentiate between AI-generated and authentic content.

These findings raise concerns among academics and regulators about the risks associated with AI-generated synthetic content potentially influencing elections.

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