KPMG Survey: About 1 in 4 Consumers Already View Generative AI as Very Useful to their Lives

October 18, 2023 – About a year ago, our social consciousness exploded when a natural language processing chatbot was made available to anyone with internet access. Fast-forward to today, and nearly one in four U.S. consumers already view Gen AI as very useful to their lives, with more than 50% viewing it as at least somewhat useful according to the findings of KPMG’s 2023 Consumer Technology Survey.  

“While artificial intelligence has long been an integral part of people's daily lives whether they realized it or not, I’m not sure how many consumers could have told you what Generative AI was a year ago,” said KPMG Global and U.S. Technology, Media & Telecommunications Leader Mark Gibson. “The pace at which consumers have adopted Generative AI has been unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed, with the most beneficial uses evolving daily.”

Gen AI adoption continues to increase, but consumers remain hesitant about creative content

• Twenty-four percent of consumers view Gen AI as very useful or indispensable to their lives (19% very useful and 5% indispensable). Another 28% of consumers view Ge AI as somewhat useful.
• Combined, more than half of U.S. consumers already view Gen AI as at least somewhat useful to their lives. This varies by age group, with Gen Z (61%) and Millennials (56%) leading the way. 
• Over the next year, 15% of consumers plan to use Gen AI more than they do today. That number slightly increases for Gen Z at 18%, as well as Millennials and Gen X (16% each). Baby Boomers trail at 10%.   

• With events like the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes bringing Gen AI and its role in the creative economy to the forefront, consumers have also shown some hesitancy about the ways in which Gen AI is used. Forty-two percent of consumers indicated they do not want to consume content created by AI versus 23% of consumers who indicated an openness to consuming content created by AI. Thirty-five percent of respondents were neutral to the idea. Younger generations were slightly more open to consuming content produced by AI.
• The debate over AI-produced content is relevant considering that among the 22 technologies surveyed, streaming services and music apps rated among the top 5 most useful or indispensable consumer technologies.     

Data privacy still paramount with consumers

• Wireless phones reigned as the most indispensable to consumers, with nearly 70% ranking it as the most useful technology in their lives. This had some variation by generation. Surprisingly, only 58% of Gen Z labeled this technology as very useful or indispensable to their lives, compared to Millennials (68%), Baby Boomers (71%), and Gen X (75%).
• Despite consumers having numerous apps on their wireless devices, the majority of respondents (59%) said they will not download specific apps due to data privacy and sharing concerns. This varies widely by generation, with Baby Boomers (80%) and Gen X (60%) more likely to abstain from downloading specific apps compared with Millennials (52%) and Gen Z (46%).
• Taking it a step further, consumers were asked whether their data privacy concerns lie more with individual companies or with a whole category of technology. More than double indicated their concerns were with the companies rather than the tech itself (43% vs. 19%).

The KPMG Consumer Technology Survey was conducted in the third quarter of 2023 and canvassed 1,507 U.S. consumers across all age groups about how they are using 22 different technology products and services today and how they expect to use them over the next year. The full report, including more insights by age group and results for all 22 technologies, will be released later this year. For additional information on KPMG’s Technology practice, visit: Technology (kpmg.us)

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