New research reveals Aussie consumers are wary of AI

Cohesity’s Kit Beall helps break down Australian concerns over AI data usage, data security, and how consumers react to cyber attacks on companies they trust.

While some Australian businesses are embracing the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Aussie consumers are increasingly wary of the technology.

In fact, we’re more concerned than consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Eighty-three per cent of Australians see AI as a security risk when it comes to their data, compared to 72 per cent in the US and 64 per cent in the UK, while the same number of Australians want to see more transparency in how AI interacts with their data, compared to 81 per cent in the US and 70 per cent in the UK.

The research comes from a new survey conducted by Censuswide on behalf of data technology firm Cohesity, which polled more than 6,000 consumers worldwide, including 2,000 Australians.

“When you look at the data, it sort of pops out,” Kit Beall, Cohesity’s global chief revenue officer, told Cyber Daily when asked why he thought Australians were more wary of the technology.

“I think it’s because, historically, Australians have a very high technology adoption rate, a very high ICT spent per capita. I think the consumers in the market are very tuned into this topic. You were using tap cards long before we were here in the US.

“The factor here, really, is that people are aware of it. It’s integral to their daily lives, but I think, at the same time, AI is something that’s sort of been cast out there as a little bit of a boogeyman for better, for worse, and I think that people don’t know quite yet if it’s going to make their lives better, or if it’s something that’s going to make their lives potentially worse.”

But while consumers at large are wary, Beall acknowledged that some sectors are rushing to adopt AI.

“I think any profession where you’ve got any sort of repetitive work, where you need to look at documents and spend time digging in … Anytime that you need to go manually open it up and go read the document, you can replace that with AI,” Beall said.

“That said, lawyers, bankers, government are very keen on this topic because it just gives them huge leverage.”

The survey also revealed that Australians are concerned about who exactly their data is being shared with. Ninety per cent of Australian consumers are worried about data sharing, compared to 87 per cent in the US and 79 per cent in the UK.

According to Beall, “we’re all globally right to be sensitive to this topic”.

“What is going to be important is that data holders need to be transparent, and they need to, frankly, make it easy for their customers to understand how the data is being used, and hiding that down in some 100-page terms of service agreement that no one’s ever going to read is not transparent.

“But equally, on the other side of this,” Beall said, “the enterprises that are using this data need to be really focused on security”.

Security is of particular importance to Australian consumers. More than 90 per cent of Australian respondents said they would consider ditching a company that had fallen victim to a cyber attack.

Beall agreed that “this absolutely should ring alarm bells” for every business concerned about their cyber security posture and resilience.

“I think it is a very, very clear statement by the consumer about their expectations – their digital ecosystem needs to be robust, needs to be secure, needs to be compliant. I think, in Australia, in particular, because, frankly, there’s been some very large data breaches, and they’ve made front-page news,” he said.

“If you’re reliant on your mobile operations and relying on your bank, relying on your transportation provider, whatever happens with your airline, and they’re breached, and you have a choice … I think companies need to really be aware of this.

“It’s the whole ecosystem. Protect and secure your data, and then make sure that you manage how it’s being used, or give your users those tools, and then use the tools to get meaningful insights and do meaningful things with that data.”