Majority Indians aware of AI, stress on increasing trust & transparency: Report

New Delhi, July 10: About 96 per cent of Indians are aware of Artificial Intelligence (AI), including generative AI platforms like Google Gemini (formerly Bard) and ChatGPT, but 81 per cent researchers and clinicians in the country stress increasing transparency, while a 71 per cent call for building up trust, according to a report on Wednesday.

The report by Elsevier titled The ‘Insights 2024: Attitudes toward AI’ is based on a survey of 3,000 researchers and clinicians from 123 countries who show willingness to use AI in their daily work. It showed that they believe in AI's high potential in research and healthcare but demand transparency and trust. The report showed that despite high awareness of AI, only 22 per cent of Indians have used AI for work purposes. However, 79 per cent of Indians who have not yet used AI expect to use it within the next two to five years.

Further, the report showed that Indians (41 per cent) also feel positive about the future impact of AI on their work, and they (72 per cent) believe AI will have a transformative or significant impact on their work. A whopping 94 per cent of clinicians in India believe AI can bring significant benefits in clinical activities such as assessing symptoms and identifying conditions or diseases.

But, transparency and quality of content are crucial. While 81 per cent of Indian researchers and clinicians expect to be informed if the tools they use rely on generative AI, 71 per cent expect results to be based on high-quality, trusted sources. Further, the report also showed that doctors (82 per cent) in India are concerned that physicians will become overly reliant on AI for clinical decisions.

“Researchers and clinicians worldwide are telling us they have an appetite for adoption to aid their profession and work but not at the cost of ethics, transparency, and accuracy,” said Kieran West, Executive Vice President of Strategy at Elsevier. “They have indicated that high-quality verified information, responsible development, and transparency are paramount to building trust in AI tools over time and alleviating concerns over misinformation and inaccuracy,” West added.

He noted that the report highlighted the “steps that need to be taken to build confidence and usage in the AI tools of today and tomorrow.”