The development of artificial intelligence (AI) will affect almost every aspect of our lives. Work, transport, health, education, justice and national security are all areas where technologies and processes are slowly but surely emerging with a result that more and more decisions or the preparation of decisions are carried out by AI-based systems.

However, this leaves us with a fundamental question: to what extent is this accepted by society? Altogether, the extent to which people are aware of the potentials offered by technology, their opinions on whether these solutions will make the world a better place or their concerns and mistrust about them are pivotal factors that will determine the developments in the near future. No successful AI-based solutions, whether in commercial or public services, can be created without a sufficient level of trust from users, i.e. society. That trust is based, most of all, on knowledge and information and the belief that these solutions will make our lives better, not worse.

That recognition has been embraced by Hungary’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, with one of its aims being to raise interest in AI among a large section of society, to familiarise people with the main features of AI, which should be accompanied by the communication and an awareness of the associated risks. Our research was primarily driven by the need for public - ly available data on the domestic social environment related to AI in the context of that complex challenge.

In spring 2022, we therefore conducted a nationwide representative, face-to-face survey of 1,250 Hungarian respondents to find out the level of experience and awareness of the Hungarian adult population regarding the development and opportunities of digitalisation, in particular artificial intelli - gence, and their general expectations concerning AI-based technologies.

In the second step in the research series in January 2023, we were focus - ing on the ‘supply’ of information, as the information provided by the media plays a crucial role in shaping opinions and knowledge about new technologies, including AI. So far, there have been few research efforts in Hungary to explore the way in which Hungarian online media platforms report on the uses of AI, its potentials and the latent and manifest messages online media conveys regarding the utopian vs. dystopian and trust vs. distrust dimensions. Our research analyses and interprets the news published and the relevant social media discourse between 2020 and 2022.

 

Project participants
Tamás Bokor
Eszter Pálvölgyi
Bence Ságvári

 

Research report
I and AI – Values, attitudes and issues of trust concerning artificial intelligence in Hungarian society

 

Cooperating partners
Corvinus University of Budapest
ZRI Závecz Research Kft.