House 337 and Savanta Shine a Light on Changing Attitudes in the AI Impact Report 2024

Are we already living in a post-AI world? The AI Impact Report, published this week in a collaboration between House 337 and Savanta, makes for a fascinating deep dive into exactly how far we’ve come in terms of mainstream awareness and adoption of AI, how far is still left to travel - and where we’re ultimately headed. 

Among the standout statistics from the report, based on Savanta polling data across the US, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Canada, is the fact that awareness of generative AI now stands at around 7 in every 10 people: 75% in the US, 71% in the UK, dropping to 65% in Germany. At the same time, however, only 15% of people in the surveyed markets claim to ‘fully understand’ the technology. 

The report also highlighted the concerns that people have around gen AI - including trust, privacy, the idea that AI “may not reflect human values” and, perhaps most prominently of all, sustainability. 

To dig into these topics, Savanta and creative company House 337 convened a panel full of AI expertise. Joining House 337’s head of AI and innovation James Poulter was the BBC’s programme director of generative AI Peter Archer, and EMEA market lead at AWS’ generative AI innovation centre Joy Omoregie. LBB’s Adam Bennett stepped in for moderation duties. 

One of the key themes from the panel was that, when it comes to practical applications for AI, the focus should be on qualitative elevation just as much as efficiency. Peter underscored how the tech had been essential for both broadening and deepening the BBC’s output - like allowing for minute-by-minute match reports of lower league football teams who the organisation may not otherwise have covered. 

In Joy’s view, the key to responding to peoples’ concerns around AI is about responsibility - on the part of organisations to ensure they’re working in an ethical way, and on behalf of people to ensure they’re educated and aware of the technology’s potential and risks. 

“We need to ensure that people know how to put their digital AI seatbelts on rather than wait for governments and organisations to catch up”, noted James. “It’s so important that the public continue to become more educated so that opportunities can be explored and enterprises can deploy the technology beyond the most obvious cases”. 

You can read more, and download the report for yourself, here.