Australians are the most nervous globally about the potential impact of AI, according to new research.

Results of the ‘Global Advisor’ survey from Ipsos point to a spectrum of global perspectives regarding the increasing prominence of artificial intelligence, with Australians more wary of the technology than any other populace. Sixty-nine percent of us report being concerned about AI.

Ipsos Australia director David Elliott says, “Australians are overwhelmingly nervous about the rapid evolution of AI and the impact it will have in the coming years on the domestic economy and the job market.”

Only 40 percent of Australians are excited about the AI revolution, with most people reporting that they do not trust AI

Australians are increasingly nervous

Since Ipsos last surveyed AI sentiment 18 months ago, the long foretold AI revolution kicked off. It seems that this wave of AI popularity may have contributed to increasing concerns, as the share of global respondents nervous about AI rose 12 percentage points.

Elliott says that AI has an “image problem” in Australia as most people are afraid of it and concerned for the security of their personal data. According to the survey, only 38 percent of Australians believe their data is safe with AI. 

But he believes the negativity is overblown.

“There’s a need for mass education around the technology, particularly its potential in increasing workplace efficiencies and improving day-to-day life,” says Elliott.

Skewed global attitudes to AI

The sense of alarm in Australia is not common across the other 30 countries included in the survey, with many of them rather trusting of AI. Japan is the country least nervous about AI with only 23 percent of the population reporting concerns.

Ipsos discovered that on average emerging economies were more optimistic about AI, while high-income countries tended to be most wary. However, workers in Southeast Asia expect their employment to be most affected by AI, while Northern Europeans are the most confident of enduring.

Fifty-seven percent of global participants expect AI to change how they work within five years, and 36 percent expect it to change their current job.

Ahead of April Fool’s Day, Reprise Digital is launching the ‘AIpril Fools Campaign Generator tool’. But, the head of growth and integration at the marketing agency advises people to not be fooled by the tool.

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. From ideation to creating content, generating images to copy writing, ChatGPT is fast becoming an indispensable tool for aspect of work. But the question remains: is ChatGPT an ally to or does it spell doom for human creativity? 

Reprise Digital’s latest AIpril Fools campaign generator tool has been introduced to inspire creative teams to develop 2023’s most intriguing April Fools campaigns. But, it says the tool should not be the only means to get those creative juices flowing. 

“The aim of this stunt is to show we still need people to drive creativity and salience for marketing campaigns,” says head of growth and integration, Mychal Whittle. 

Powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the campaign tool uses the latest in AI Large Language Models (LLM) technology to help creatives churn out quirky campaign ideas on the fly.

Despite the fact that ChatGPT has proven to be incredibly useful, true creativity comes down to one thing: human intellect. 

At Reprise Digital, many products have built-in AI to deliver client-specific insights, content and data solutions at scale. However, chief product officer at Reprise, Andrew Holford says, “there will continue to be a need for our people to bring the creativity and context to ensure clients get the bespoke and tailored strategies they need to succeed.”

Don’t be fooled by ChatGPT

ChatGPT is “dumber than you think”, wrote Ian Bogost in an article published in The Atlantic shortly after ChatGPT launched in November. Bogost advises readers to use it like a toy rather than a tool. 

“On the one hand, yes, ChatGPT is capable of producing prose that looks convincing. But on the other hand, what it means to be convincing depends on context,” he says.

The developers of the campaign generator are advocating for the same: a future that combines both the human mind and AI to facilitate and deliver high-quality creative concepts and results.

“Don’t be fooled by the AIpril Fools Campaign Generator, we don’t expect any Cannes Lion- winning ideas. This is more of a tongue-in-cheek creation highlighting the functionality of AI tools and how marketers should – and more to the point shouldn’t – be using them,” adds Whittle.

Although the AI tool has the potential to generate peculiar ideas, for any kind of industry, Whittle does not expect users to turn them into real campaigns. Instead, he expects them to be relatively generic. 

He sends out a message to all the users to go on an experimental spree with the tool and bring a fresh spin on ideation ahead of April Fools Day.

For more on AI, read about how AI generative image software underrepresents women in senior roles.