Government · UK · Office for National Statistics
Just 36% of UK Adults Think AI Will Benefit Them
Public confidence in AI is slipping. New ONS data shows just 36% of UK adults believe artificial intelligence will benefit them, while the share who actively disagree has climbed to its highest level since the question was first asked in 2023.
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Key findings at a glance
- 36% of UK adults agreed AI will benefit them in June 2026, little changed from 38% in November 2023
- 27% of adults disagreed that AI will benefit them, the highest level since the question was first asked in November 2023
- 38% of adults think AI carries more risks than benefits, up from 25% in August 2024
- 13% of adults think AI offers more benefits than risks
- 81% of adults named difficulty telling whether news or information is fake as a downside of AI
- 77% of adults were concerned about their personal data being used without consent
- 63% of adults saw a greater chance of experiencing cybercrime as an AI harm
- 47% of adults aged 16 to 29 agreed AI will benefit them, the most positive age group
- 16% of adults aged 70 and over agreed AI will benefit them, the least positive age group
- 29% of adults said better access to learning or education was AI's leading potential benefit
- 41% of adults did not think AI could have any positive impact on their life
What the report covers
The Office for National Statistics released the June 2026 edition of Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain on 17 July 2026, drawn from its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). Alongside the regular tracker on the cost of living and the economy, this wave carried a dedicated module on how the British public views artificial intelligence, and the mood has cooled.
Just over a third of adults (36%) agreed that AI will benefit them, broadly where it sat in November 2023 (38%). What has shifted is the sceptical end: 27% now disagree, up from 20% in August 2025 and the highest since the question began. Enthusiasm splits sharply by age and gender. Among 16 to 29 year olds, 47% expect to benefit, against just 16% of those aged 70 and over, and men (41%) are more positive than women (31%). It is a useful counterweight to the adoption story we covered when 29% of UK businesses reported using AI and when 74% of UK teenagers said they use AI every week: usage is climbing, but comfort is not keeping pace.
On the balance of risk and reward, 38% think AI brings more risks than benefits, up from 25% in August 2024, while only 13% see more benefits than risks. The harms people name sit squarely in marketing's territory: 81% pointed to the difficulty of telling whether news or information is fake, 77% to personal data being used without consent, and 63% to a heightened risk of cybercrime.
What this means for UK marketers
For UK marketers, this is a trust signal, not a technology one. The public is not rejecting AI, but a growing minority is wary, and the specific worries matter for how brands deploy it. When 81% of adults struggle to tell real information from fake, any whiff of AI-generated content that looks synthetic, inaccurate or unattributed will cost credibility rather than build it. The answer is not to hide AI use. It is to keep a human editor in the loop, cite sources, and make only claims you can stand behind.
The data-consent finding is just as pointed. With 77% concerned about personal data being used without permission, aggressive tracking, vague privacy notices and opaque personalisation are now reputational risks as much as compliance ones. Brands that are plain about what they collect and why will bank goodwill that competitors relying on dark-pattern signals will not. That transparency sits at the heart of how we plan campaigns through our digital marketing services.
There is opportunity in the split, too. Younger adults and men are markedly more positive, so audience is everything: an AI-forward message that lands with a 16 to 29 crowd may alienate an over-60 one. Segment the tone, not just the offer. And mind the gap between public caution and policy ambition. Government is pushing hard on adoption through its AI Opportunities Action Plan, while 41% of adults still cannot see any personal upside. For businesses selling AI-enabled products, closing that gap is the work: lead with concrete outcomes and proof rather than novelty, because a large share of the audience still needs convincing the benefit is real.
How they got the data
The figures come from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), the ONS household study of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain. Fieldwork for this release ran from 3 to 28 June 2026. The ONS sampled 8,710 households, drawn at random from people who had previously taken part in the Transformed Labour Force Survey or the OPN, and received responses from 3,510 individuals. Results are weighted to be representative of the Great Britain adult population.
The AI questions run as a periodic module, so several comparisons reach back to when each question was first fielded: November 2023 for the benefit question and August 2024 for the risk-versus-benefit question. Estimates are subject to sampling variability and may not sum to 100 because of rounding. Fuller detail on design and weighting sits in the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey quality and methodology information.
Government · UK
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From Office for National Statistics · published 17/07/2026