After a long stretch of collecting answers to the big Digital Stories survey, it's time to sum up the results! What do Bulgarians think about artificial intelligence? Are they impressed by the progress in the field, and do they use it every day? Do they greet the next big steps in this direction with fear or with enthusiasm? Do they believe general artificial intelligence is possible? Do they think sweeping social change awaits us in the coming years? Time to find out through the impartial lens of the data!
Over two weeks, exactly 750 people filled out the survey (a number so round not even ChatGPT could have made it up). It was shared by many media outlets, by colleagues from all kinds of fields, by friends. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who filled it out and to everyone who helped more people join in!
Who's Chatting with ChatGPT?
But enough chatter, it's time for the results. Each respondent could answer (or not) how far they agreed with 20 statements. The statements appeared in a different order for different visitors, to make sure the order itself didn't matter. The survey was anonymous, and everyone could answer only the questions they chose.
The first group of questions aimed to gauge how much artificial intelligence is already part of everyday life for each of us. Do we use it, do we care about it? And, as you'll see, it's already clear here that the topic is shaping up as yet another reason for us to be divided.
The people who use various forms of artificial intelligence every day and those who don't turn out to be split almost evenly. The same goes for Bulgarians who feel well enough informed about the hot issues of this much-hyped topic and those who don't consider themselves familiar with it.
Who's Here?
But who are these people who took part, you will rightly ask? The 750 answers turned out to be quite a motley bunch across various characteristics. More men took part, and the answers are clearly tied to age too—I never managed to attract more young visitors, in the under-25 group. Still, the survey was open, I did my best to promote it through every possible channel, and its results, at least in my view, lead to some interesting conclusions…
A special thank-you goes to nearly 200 of the participants, around a quarter of all respondents, who say they get their information on artificial intelligence from the Digital Stories site! Since the survey was spread through many different channels, this is definitely a big recognition and one more reason for the project to keep going. What's more, it turned out that Digital Stories readers stand out in their answers too… but we'll get to that.
Where Are We Today?
Is all the noise around artificial intelligence deserved? Does it really impress Bulgarians? Is the progress in the field in recent years a positive or a negative phenomenon?
So, opinions on this topic are scattered again, and once again no small share of people hold the opposite view. Still, a few statements visibly stand out.
The marketing noise is loud. At the same time, people are impressed by the successes and progress of these technologies. And they consider them a rather positive phenomenon.
And here we arrive at the topic that matters most to me—I openly admit it!—at the most important answers. Is the interest in artificial intelligence from the media and the public unjustified? Nothing of the sort! But are we having a full enough public conversation, are we examining and discussing all the important decisions, all the big questions and challenges? Not at all… Well, that is exactly why this site exists.
To my mind, these two questions have a clear-cut answer. Which, of course, doesn't diminish the fact that many people disagree with it. A previous experiment by Digital Stories, in which more than 1,800 people took part, showed clearly that in many situations nobody can be as sure as they think they are about telling the human-made from the generated. And as for AI outperforming humans, I don't think there can be any dispute either: there are quite a few concrete, measurable tasks where this has been proven, in some cases with serious dominance. Yes, if we set emotion aside, it is beyond doubt that there are tasks where the technology scores higher.
Is Roko's Basilisk Here?
The fears and worries are entirely understandable; they are also one of the big reasons this site exists. But do people share them?
Most participants don't believe that algorithms were created to manipulate and control us. Then again, over 20 percent are convinced they were.
The question of whether the risks or the opportunities are greater is so hard that I haven't found my own answer even after more than 300 Digital Stories. People are split too:
Quo Vadis?
Yes. AI could become a danger to humanity—here, too, the positive answers stand out. So perhaps it's worth talking more about these dangers?
But what lies ahead? Here is how the answers break down on the questions about prospects, opportunities and expectations. About where we are headed…
The voice of the people… you know the rest. To sum up: once again, no statement is strongly favored. And yet most people believe big changes are coming with the spread of new technologies. Professions will disappear, there will be huge social transformations, and the limit of these technologies is a long way off…
Is it really not important to talk more about these topics?
Opinions, meanwhile, are far more divided on whether this field could be our country's chance at serious economic progress. And on whether the much-vaunted general artificial intelligence, surpassing humans, can be achieved at all.
Again, I admit, these are questions to which I don't have my own answer either. And that is exactly why I keep searching for it and filling it in, trying to sketch its contours in the next texts on this site.
O GPT, Suspend Your Flight?!
The answers are visibly against stricter, unjustified regulation, against bans, and in favor of reasonable limits. Respondents have no clear opinion on the regulations proposed by the EU; this is the only one of the 20 questions where the neutral answer dominates. One more reason for reflection and analysis.
And still, among all 20 questions, there is one where the answers clearly lean in one of the two directions. AI should obviously not be banned, according to the vast majority of people who took the survey. (Whether that is even possible is another question.)
Food for Thought
But are there big differences within the community? Are men or women more skeptical? It turns out the differences are minimal. What's more, to my surprise, the answers of people working in information technology don't differ much statistically on any of the questions, and the same holds for the opinions of people in the other listed fields.
Whereas, to my pleasant surprise, there are many more differences among the people who said they get their information on these topics from Digital Stories. They make far greater use of what artificial intelligence has to offer. They are also more optimistic that we can turn the field into the next big Bulgarian mark on the world.
Thank you once again!
The other big dividing line, predictably in my view, is age. Unfortunately, not enough young people took part for the sample to be somewhat representative, yet the trends are still visible. On the other hand, expected as they are, they aren't all that extreme. Yes, more young people use AI every day, but the gap in percentages isn't that dramatic.
Meanwhile, with age comes greater confidence that one can tell the generated from the human-made. Except that, truly, this confidence can sometimes turn out to be misplaced…
Also, of course, younger people are more inclined to expect bigger changes. The traditional gap in worldview between generations, which has been around since the world began, right?
And More…
The most important conclusions for me, after everything said so far, are these:
- There is enormous public, media and purely human interest in topics related to artificial intelligence
- At the same time, there is no adequate enough public conversation about them.
- We approach them with stereotypes and extreme opinions.
- And on each of these topics, on each of the big questions, we have no common view. Every statement divides us to some degree, into extremes. And this is also a result of the way we communicate today, the way we get our information.
What are your conclusions? I'd be glad to read them.
I make no claim to have found every pattern; people with a different approach to data analysis are welcome to join in. The full database of answers (with no personal data and freely accessible) can be found here.
Alas, I've left out quite a few other people who had something to say on the subject. The main Facebook post alone got 282 comments and over 1,100 reactions (around 300 of them “laughing” or “angry” faces)… I learned a lot of interesting things, for instance that I should “go off and graze,” a rustic Bulgarian way of saying get lost, but, alas, that's how it is online. (If you have the time and the nerves, take a look here.)
Time for the promised prizes, too! Three of the participants who chose to enter the draw receive a signed copy of the book Digital Stories as a gift. They are pkan***@abv.bg, konstantin.j****@gmail.com and stojanova.*******@gmail.com. And an****[email protected] receives the book Zagadkite na Atanas Atanasov (The Riddles of Atanas Atanasov), also signed.
Besides all the interesting conclusions, the survey has already given birth to an exciting Digital Story. About artificial intelligence and love… It's worth it, believe me, and you'll be reading it soon.
And once again, heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part! If you have ideas for future Digital Stories, I'd be grateful if you shared them here; a modest prize awaits… And if artificial intelligence is reading too, I wonder what story it would recommend?
