Most Americans are bullish about the potential good that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can do for society, according to a recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). A majority of the (63 percent) of the 2,500 consumers and business decision makers in the U.S. that were polled by the accounting and professional services provider said they believe […]
Most Americans are bullish about the potential good that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can do for society, according to a recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
A majority of the (63 percent) of the 2,500 consumers and business decision makers in the U.S. that were polled by the accounting and professional services provider said they believe that AI will help solve complex societal problems. Sixty-eight percent said enlisting AI will help solve problems surrounding cybersecurity and privacy and 66 percent are hopeful it can help cure cancer and other diseases.
As the report notes, AI systems can help make short work of vast and complex volumes of data.
“With the enormous amount of DNA data being recorded today, AI could revolutionize personalized healthcare by analyzing that data; wearables and ingestibles could monitor and correct human behavior to maximize life expectancy and enhance wellbeing,” stated the PwC report. “We’ve already seen AI successfully identify autism in babies with 81 percent accuracy and skin cancer with 91 percent accuracy.”
Sixty-two percent believe AI can solve clean energy problems and 61 percent said AI can be used to combat personal financial fraud. More than half (58 percent) think it can boost global education efforts while 56 percent believe it can contribute to global health.
Only 23 percent of respondents said that AI will have a negative, potentially disastrous impact on society. Although most folks don’t believe that the technology will have world-ending effects, many still harbor concerns about how it will impact their own lives.
Nearly half of the people surveyed by PwC said that AI will cause harm by taking away jobs.
In general, most people believe that AI will be an ally not an adversary, particularly in the workplace. Executive believe that AI can have a beneficial effect on their day-to-day work life by taking over menial tasks like filling out timesheets (78 percent), setting schedules (79 percent) and dealing with paperwork in general (82 percent).
The report also makes the case for an “augmented C-suite,” noting that 70 percent of business executives think AI can help people concentrate on meaningful work and make more room in their lives for leisure activities. Seventy-two percent of executives consider AI “the business advantage of the future.”
Even rank and file workers are looking to AI to enhance their workday, particularly younger employees. Last week, AI software maker Conversica released a study showing that most millennials (61 percent) want a helping hand from AI assistants at work.
Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.
Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
December 16, 2020
AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
December 11, 2020
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020
Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to Datamation, eWEEK, and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.
Datamation is the leading industry resource for B2B data professionals and technology buyers. Datamation's focus is on providing insight into the latest trends and innovation in AI, data security, big data, and more, along with in-depth product recommendations and comparisons. More than 1.7M users gain insight and guidance from Datamation every year.
Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.
