New research by Salesforce indicates a significant trust issue surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), with data being a crucial element in building that trust. The AI Trust Quotient Research, which surveyed 2,117 workers across the Asia Pacific region and 545 in Singapore, was presented at the World Tour Essentials Singapore 2024, Salesforce's annual thought leadership, industry networking, and customer event.
The study found AI suffers from a trust problem, with 48% of workers in Singapore struggling to get what they need from AI, and 40% distrusting the data employed to train AI systems. An even more striking result is that almost all (95%) of those who lack trust in AI are apprehensive about adopting it, and two-thirds (66%) of those who mistrust AI training data are hesitant to use it.
The research highlighted how the trust issue directly impacts AI adoption, suggesting a definite connection between mistrust and hesitation towards AI adoption. Crucial implications of this trust issue include an ongoing hindrance for businesses looking to utilise AI effectively.
A key issue to address is data. The lack of complete, accurate, and modern data undermines trust in the AI sector. According to the research, 70% of those who don't trust AI claim it lacks the necessary data to be useful, while 65% of workers in Singapore stated that outdated public data and incomplete customer or company data would shatter their trust in AI. When considering what would enhance their trust in AI, Singaporean workers ranked accurate data highest (84%), followed by secure data (82%) and holistic/complete data (79%). Furthermore, 80% said AI needs to consistently deliver accurate results for them to trust it.
The role of humans in the AI equation is also pivotal. Interestingly, the study found that 94% do not currently trust AI to operate without human supervision. For AI to reach its full potential, workers strongly feel that humans must continue to lead AI. As AI sophistication increases, the fear among workers that humans might lose control of AI also grows, with 58% expressing this concern.
Workers believed that two aspects could drive more trust in AI: more training opportunities (74%) and more accessibility and inclusivity in AI (66%).
Commenting on the research findings, Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce ASEAN, stated, "Adoption of AI within the workforce is critical if businesses are to achieve their goals of increasing employee engagement and productivity, which is foundational to higher value customer relationships and margins. But in order to use it, they need to trust it. AI is only as good as the data powering it, and new research shows that data makes or breaks the workforce's trust in AI. Businesses need to unify their data across systems for AI to deliver useful, accurate outputs that workers trust."
Laurence Liew, Director, AI Innovation, AI Singapore, agreed with Salesforce's findings, emphasising that "Building trust in AI is crucial for successful adoption, and this requires a multi-faceted approach... AI Singapore's initiatives are focused on developing a skilled and responsible AI workforce, while programs ensure that AI solutions are implemented with a human-centric approach, addressing real-world challenges and delivering tangible value."
