A new global study highlights a clear divide in how people view artificial intelligence—balancing strong expectations for productivity with growing concerns around trust and long-term impact.
Anthropic, the company behind Claude, surveyed 81,000 participants across 159 countries to understand what users want from AI and what worries them. To gather insights, the company deployed “Claude Interviewer,” an AI model that conducted open-ended interviews in 70 languages, with responses later analysed using its own AI systems.
When it comes to expectations, 18.8% of respondents identified “professional excellence” as their primary goal, followed by 13.7% who pointed to “personal transformation.” Many users said AI helps them handle repetitive tasks, enabling a stronger focus on strategic and complex work. Others highlighted time savings and improved life management as key benefits.
Additional motivations included financial independence, entrepreneurship, learning and growth, societal transformation, and greater time freedom. Notably, only 5.6% of respondents selected “creative expression,” making it the least prioritised use case.
On the concerns side, reliability emerged as the biggest issue, cited by 26.7% of participants. Job and economic risks followed at 22.3%, while 21.9% raised concerns around autonomy and control. Other worries included cognitive decline, governance challenges, misinformation, surveillance, privacy risks, and malicious use of AI. “Overrestriction” ranked as the least significant concern.
The study also revealed clear regional differences. Respondents from India, Brazil, and Israel showed a more optimistic outlook toward AI. In contrast, users from France, Japan, and the United States reported mixed sentiment, while Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom displayed more scepticism.
The findings underline a global trend: while AI is widely seen as a tool for efficiency and growth, trust, accountability, and long-term societal impact remain key concerns shaping its adoption.
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