Over half of people in the UK fear the misuse of AI in elections, coming first among any other major European nations, according to the 2024 edition of the European Tech Insights survey from IE University in Spain.

The survey, conducted among more than 3,000 people across 10 European countries, found that the majority of Europeans (67%) expressed concerns about the potential hacking of elections by AI tech, with the UK topping the list at 54%, followed by Spain with 51%.

Despite these concerns, younger generations show greater openness to AI, with 34% of Europeans under 35 saying that they would trust an AI-powered app to vote for political candidates on their behalf.

The data shows that public servants are more likely to distrust AI in elections, with almost three-quarters (74%) thinking it would lead to more disinformation, voter manipulation, and interference in the election process, versus the 40% of general European citizens who feel the same.

However, there is much stronger support across all countries for the utilisation of AI in police and military operations, such as facial recognition and biometric data for surveillance, with 75% of Europeans in favour of such use.

Again, people in the UK are more distrustful, coming eighth in the rankings with 68% thinking AI should be used in this context, against the top of the table Romania, at 85%.

Across Europe, people said they generally support the use of AI tools in areas like traffic optimisation (77%), and helping job seekers (79%), while more than a third (35%) of citizens and 32% of public servants trust the accuracy of AI tools to summarise parliamentary work.

Governments generally are given short shrift when it comes to their effectiveness in using technology to improve services, with 41% of Europeans rating their governments as only ‘fair’ in getting the most out of emerging tech. In the UK, that rating fell to between ‘poor’ and ‘fair’. 

Across the entire survey, the UK was either the most opposed, or close to it, on the further integration of AI in everyday life, opposing the use of such technology in decision making, critical administrative functions, and security. 

The report also looked into the readiness of European citizens themselves for integrating other emerging tech into their daily lives. A majority said that in the next 10 years they believed they’d have access to medical devices that treat patients remotely (75.3%), humanoid robots to do household chores (56,8%), 3D-printed organs (55,7%), and augmented reality contact lenses (52.9%).

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Interestingly, 35% said they’d be willing to attach neurostimulation devices, like Neuralinks, to their most intimate parts to improve mood, stress levels, or mental health conditions, while a third (33%) would use ocular devices to record their memories.

Surprisingly, over a quarter of young people of both genders (28%) said they would even consider having an AI companion for a romantic partner instead of another person.

“For yet another year, European citizens’ attitudes toward adopting emerging technologies can be summed up as ‘yes, as long as core values are respected’”, said Diego del Alcazar Benjumea, CEO of IE University.

“This is evident in their cautious optimism about AI in public life, including elections, where many trust its potential but worry about misuse. Policymakers should use these findings to guide their approach to training on emerging technology, now and in the future.”