Axios wrote an article back in March discussing new data on AI perspectives. Western countries were more pessimistic about AI than other countries, particularly India, Indonesia, and the UAE. Their information showed that workers in Asia are embracing generative AI tools for productivity to far greater degrees than Western workers — and Americans are among the least positive about AI's workplace uses. The data had many worried that pessimism about AI in the U.S. would make the U.S. and allied countries less competitive.
Some of these previous correlations have stayed true as of more recent analysis. Last month IT News looked at which countries were the most (and least) excited about AI. US News and World Report selected the “best” country for AI—a ranking effort, now in its ninth year, that evaluated 89 nations across more than 70 attributes. Switzerland ended up on top. This study compared the best country results to separate AI-readiness data from 2023 and came to an intriguing conclusion: Countries considered more prepared for AI deployments (like many Western countries) often have less optimism about the technology than their eager, less-ready-for-AI counterparts. One of the reporters, Elliott Davis Jr, shared:
“Countries that are wealthier and more developed are more likely to read our ranking criteria and may also be more likely to see AI integration, both the pros and the cons of it. While poorer, less developed countries may see the pros of AI integration, but maybe have yet to experience the cons."
To further specifically illustrate the point, US News and World Report noted that more AI-pessimistic countries ranked highly on Oxford’s readiness scale: Canada (5), Australia (12), New Zealand (49), Denmark (11), Sweden (14).
AI optimists, with an exception of China, landed deeper on the list: China (16), Vietnam (59), Thailand (37), Kenya (101), Egypt (62).
In a different report from Visual Capitalist, Sweden came out as the country “least excited” about AI, tied with Belgium and Ireland as being the least likely to say that AI-powered products and services have profoundly changed their daily life in the past 3-5 years. On top of this, they are also least likely to believe AI will change how they do their job or replace their current job.
The country with the greatest apprehension is Australia. People there have low agreement with the statement that products and services using AI have more benefits than drawbacks. They also have some of the lowest levels of trust when it comes to AI bias and privacy concerns.
With national perspectives differing, we need to look at how Global Mobility feels about AI. Some mobility leaders feel that AI can help to streamline and create efficiencies for mobility programs. Others have said they feel AI is unlikely to have much of an impact because of all of the unique and surprising situations that arise in the complexity of relocation. Here are a number of ways where AI could support mobility managers and relocating employees:
Plus is also running a pulse survey for mobility leaders to get your thoughts and feelings on AI and how it's making a difference for relocation at your company. It should take less than 5 minutes, so share your perspectives and see how they compare across the industry.