Public attitudes to data and AI: Tracker survey (Wave 2)
The CDEI has published a report detailing the findings from the second wave of its Public Attitudes Tracker Survey, which monitors how attitudes towards data and AI vary over time, and assesses the drivers of trust in data use.
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Details
The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) Public Attitudes Tracker Survey monitors how public attitudes towards the use of data and data-driven technologies change over time, as well as assessing the drivers of trust in data use. Building on Wave 1 this second iteration of the survey provides insight into issues including where citizens see the greatest value in data use, where they see the greatest risks, trust in institutions to use data, and preferences for data sharing. This report summarises the second wave (Wave 2) of research and makes comparisons to the first wave (Wave 1). The research was conducted by Savanta ComRes on behalf of the CDEI.
Key findings
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Health and the economy are perceived as the greatest opportunities for data use. These mirror the areas where the public perceive the biggest issues facing the UK: ‘the economy’ and ‘tax’ have both increased in importance as key issues faced by the UK since the last wave, while health remains a priority issue.
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Data security and privacy are the top concerns, reflecting the most commonly recalled news stories. UK adults report a slight increase in perceived risks related to data security since December 2021, with ‘data not being held securely/ being hacked or stolen’ and ‘data being sold onto other organisations for profit’ representing the two greatest perceived risks.
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Trust in data actors is strongly related to overall trust in those organisations. While trust in the NHS and academic researchers to use data remains high, a drop in the public’s trust in the government and utility companies and their data practices has been reported since the previous wave. Trust in big technology companies to act in people’s best interest has also fallen since 2021, particularly amongst those who are most positive and knowledgeable about technology. Trust in social media companies remains low.
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UK adults do not want to be identifiable in shared data - but will share personal data in the interests of protecting fairness. When it comes to data governance, people want their data to be managed by experts, and for the privacy of their data to be prioritised.
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While identifiability is the most important criterion driving willingness to share data, the wider UK adult population is willing to share demographic data for the purpose of evaluating systems for fairness towards all groups. The proportion of people who would be comfortable sharing information about their ethnicity, gender, or the region they live in, to enable testing of systems for fairness is 69%, 68% and 61% respectively. In comparison, adults with very low digital familiarity are less comfortable sharing information about their ethnicity (47%), gender or region they live in (both 55%).
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The UK adult population prefers experts to be involved in the review process for how their data is managed. This preference for experts to be involved in decision-making processes related to shared data is stronger among adults with low levels of trust in institutions tested compared to those with high levels of trust.
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People are positive about the added conveniences of AI, but expect strong governance in higher risk scenarios, such as in healthcare and policing. Healthcare is the area in which UK adults expect there to be the biggest changes as a result of AI.
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Members of the public with very low digital familiarity have low confidence in their knowledge and control over their personal data, with the majority saying that they know little or nothing about how their data is used and collected (76%). Few feel that their data is stored safely and securely (28%). As a result, they are less likely than the wider UK adult population to feel they personally benefit from technology. However, they are reasonably open to sharing data to benefit society, and the majority consider collecting and analysing data to be good for society (57%).
Next steps
The CDEI has published the raw survey data and data tables alongside the report summarising the findings of this iteration of the tracker survey. This survey, alongside other qualitative and quantitative research at CDEI, provides an evidence base which sits at the heart of our work on responsible innovation. For example, the survey’s research findings on demographic data will inform work to support organisations to access demographic data to monitor their products and services for algorithmic bias. To sign up for updates about future waves for the survey, click here.