AI Leaves HK Residents Confused, Fearful: Poll

Despite the government's promise to turn Hong Kong into a smart city, a survey by technology giant Microsoft has found that the SAR's residents are unsure about Artificial Intelligence (AI), with some fearing it will take over their jobs and only a small number actually trusting digital services.

Almost half of the 450 people polled said they are ambivalent towards the use of AI, while seven percent feared that it will take away their jobs.

The Microsoft poll also found that only 15 percent of the respondents trust organisations that offer digital services while about 20 percent don't believe in them at all.

But despite such bleak results, the company's general manager in Hong Kong and Macau, Cally Chan, was optimistic about the poll results.

"If you look at the data, more than 95 percent of the people know what is AI," Chan said. But they don't know enough about it to have confidence in it, she said.

Chan told RTHK's Timmy Sung that companies who use AI should be more transparent so that people become familiar with the technology and learnt to trust it.