Australia Among Lowest Globally in Trusting Artificial Intelligence
MELBOURNE, 29TH APRIL, 2025 – The University of Melbourne and KPMG carried out a global study, which discloses that up to half of Australians are regularly using AI, but only 36% actually trust it.
This research covered 47 countries and over 48,000 participants, and ranked Australia among the lowest with trust in AI, optimism for it, and the perceived benefits. Just 30% believe the benefits of having AI would outweigh the risks, which is also the lowest in the world.
“The public’s trust of AI technologies and their safe and secure use is central to acceptance and adoption,” Professor Nicole Gillespie says.
“Yet our research reveals that 78% of Australians are concerned about a range of negative outcomes from the use of AI systems, and 37% have personally experienced or observed negative outcomes ranging from inaccuracy, misinformation and manipulation, deskilling, and loss of privacy or IP.”
“AI literacy consistently emerges in our research as a cross-cutting enabler: it is associated with greater use, trust, acceptance, and critical engagement with AI output, and more benefits from AI use, including better performance in the workplace,”
Professor Gillespie continues. “An important foundation to building trust and unlocking the benefits of AI is developing literacy through accessible training, workplace support, and public education.”
Just about 24% of Australians have received any AI-related training, while that is 39% globally. About 60% of Australians reported low AI knowledge, and less than half feel equipped to properly use AI tools.
Despite this, 65% report that their employer uses AI, and 49% of employees regularly use it, often without proper guidance or safeguards.
“There is a striking opportunity for industry and government to foster trust in AI by building on the existing Voluntary AI Safety Standards and ensuring Australian safeguards expand in line with emerging international laws and regulations. Organisations also need to invest in the training and development of their people,”
Mr Munnelly says.
“At KPMG Australia, we invested early in our own governance, becoming the first organisation in the world to obtain ISO42001 (AI) certification by BSI, achieving its standards designed to empower safe management of AI and build trust to enable its secure and responsible use.”
Strong public demand for the regulation of AI was established, with 77% of respondents supporting some kind of oversight. Only 30% believe, however, that the current safeguards are sufficient.
The results indicate an increased need for AI literacy, workplace training, and national governance to close Australia’s trust gap in AI.
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