Research indicates Indian consumers confident that AI will make lives easier

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Salesforce, the customer success platform and world's number one Customer Relationship Management (CRM) company has unveiled its findings from a research titled, Artificial Intelligence in Asia

Commissioned across seven Asian markets, including Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, the study explores consumer trust and understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the opportunities for business and government to grow knowledge, re-skill and prepare consumers for the future.

Amongst the markets surveyed, the results reveal that Indian consumers are well aware of AI (78%) and India emerged as the second market (with Indonesia at 68%) with the highest positive outlook towards AI (65%). The majority also believe that AI has the ability to help make society smarter (60%) in the future. Most Indians surveyed (64%) also feel AI will transform the employee space, by providing freedom to work, creating interesting jobs, and many see AI as a way to make society smarter (60%) and life more convenient (58%).

There is a clear correlation between understanding and outlook. As AI permeates the enterprise, it is undoubtedly altering consumer spaces and preferences where respondents who reported a higher level of understanding of AI (78%) were statistically more likely to have a positive outlook towards AI products and services. 54% think the more they understand and are made aware of AI, the more they will trust it. And, with 65% of respondents feeling positive about AI, it's now the role of businesses to demystify AI for consumers encouraging adoption and educating customers on its benefits.

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming of age. As businesses continue to find new ways to innovate with AI technologies, awareness and education on its benefits for consumers will become increasingly important. By leveraging AI across businesses, we have the opportunity to amplify our human intelligence, connect to our consumers and impact societies like never before," said Sunil Jose, senior area Vice-President and Country Leader, Salesforce India.

64% of Indians are confident that new jobs will emerge from AI, giving them the opportunity to do better and more interesting jobs. Upskilling will be crucial and 56% of Indians are ready to upskill and make themselves relevant for jobs of the future.

"AI will redefine the skills needed for new jobs, forcing businesses and individuals to re-evaluate what skills are needed to be successful. At Salesforce, we recognise this shift, and are preparing future workers through our online learning platform, Trailhead. Trailhead is empowering everyone to learn the skills needed to be successful in the fourth industrial revolution. The future of businesses is an active partnership between human and machine, and with Trailhead we are ensuring humans are ready for the opportunities to come," added Sunil Jose.

In addition to overall AI awareness, the study explores the real-world applications of AI including robo advisors, content recommendations, chatbots, product recommendations, and voice assistants. Consumer trust and awareness vary dramatically across different AI applications, with 86% of Indians opting for AI over humans to recommend them content.

The study also reveals that Indians are open to AI managing and optimizing their finances (59%). Additionally, the study found that there is a general openness towards interacting with chatbots (63%) and awareness of voice assistants is the highest amongst all AI applications (83%).