As artificial intelligence (AI) technology advances, many Canadians are not certain the information an AI robot provides is trustworthy, according to a new survey.
The survey published April 11 by GetApp, a business software and app comparison company, found that a majority of respondents would not trust synthesized answers to search queries from AI.
The survey of 1,004 people aged 18 and older in Canada, conducted in February, found that 17 per cent would "never trust" AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google Bard when searching online. Forty-three per cent said it would depend on the subject, and 13 per cent said AI would make searching easier.
Twenty-seven per cent of respondents said they would still double-check the answers the AI gave them.
"The uncertainty users showed in using AI to synthesize a single answer to their search query using all available information is interesting," Tessa Anaya, analyst for this study, said in a press release. "Over three-quarters of respondents thought it’d be useful to some degree to receive personalized search results, which relies on AI to remember their past online actions and propose new information based on those. While users like personalized results, there seem to be limits on users’ faith in the capabilities of AI-powered search."
The results from this survey resemble a separate study done by Leger, which showed the majority of Canadians do not trust AI tools to be involved in their day-to-day life.
CANADIANS SKEPTICAL OF SEARCH ENGINE INFORMATION
Furthermore, the GetApp survey shows Canadians don’t trust all information they find online and are more likely to trust the info if it came from a search engine over social media.
Most people use search engines (96 per cent) over social networks to search for information, according to the survey. About 40 per cent of respondents who use search engines over social media said it was due to trust. However, the survey still shows that "few search engine users take the results they get at face value," meaning many are still skeptical of the information they find online.
About eight per cent say they fully trust the information search engines provide, and half say they "generally trust it but with caution."
About 41 per cent said the trust is based on the inquiry and the sources provided.
The survey says people go "out of their way" to ensure the information they find is factual.
About one-third (36 per cent) said they find another source to fact-check the information "most of the time," and a majority (59 per cent) verify "sometimes" but only if they are not sure.
SOCIAL MEDIA NOT SEEN AS TRUSTWORTHY
The smaller group of people who do search for information on social media are less confident they are getting the facts.
About 26 per cent say they generally trust the information while only five per cent say they fully trust social media platforms.
"As different online search platforms emerge, become popular, and undergo changes, the level of user trust in them may also be fluctuating," Anaya said. "Users evaluate search results based on their source, but their trust also depends on the content topic."
Some social media platforms are considered more trustworthy than others, according to respondents.
WHO IS TRUSTED ONLINE?
About 38 per cent of survey respondents trusted information that comes from government sources, followed by 37 per cent trusting information from a news organization.
About 33 per cent trusted information that came from a recognized content creator.
