The surprising popularity of AI

A GlobeScan survey for The Economist across 34 countries (online) found almost two-thirds of South Koreans optimistic about AI and nearly nine in ten people in Nigeria and Vietnam saying it will improve their lives; in America, Canada and France more people felt negatively than positively, and other Western countries were only mildly positive. A 37-country Gallup/Microsoft survey broadly agreed. Usage data: nearly one in five working-age Indians used generative AI in Q2 2026 versus a third of Americans; DeepSeek has about one in ten working-age users in many African countries. The Economist’s explanations: workers outside rich countries have less to lose and more to gain, ageing Asian societies hope AI fills labour gaps, they have living memory of fast tech-led growth, and Western pessimism reflects stagnating incomes, distrust of Big Tech and lab bosses’ warnings about job losses. Caveats: online polling may tilt pro-AI; optimism can cool on contact (only about 9% of working-age Kenyans used AI in Q2 yet 85% expect it to help); Pew finds South Koreans and Australians most expect job losses; KAIST’s Kim Jeong-nam warns tolerance could vanish if AI produces “visible losers”; and data-centre backlash is emerging in the Philippines, India (Thane, against an Amazon data centre) and Malaysia.