ChatGPT, how many people already know you?

In a recent survey, the Meinungsmonitor Künstliche Intelligenz [MeMo:KI] examined the awareness, use and evaluation of the AI language model ChatGPT among the German population. ChatGPT is a chatbot based on machine learning and was developed by the US company OpenAI. Since its release in November 2022, ChatGPT has caused quite a stir. The bot offers interaction within a chat window, answers questions, composes texts, writes songs or programmes. The result of the study shows that ChatGPT is already known to a quarter of the respondents and more than a tenth have already used it. Among the 1,028 respondents, a total of 11 percent said they use ChatGPT regularly or have already tried it.

With regard to the context of use, the new study shows that the private use of the AI-based language model is in the foreground. More than half of the users state that they use ChatGPT privately, a quarter of the respondents already use the chatbot professionally. Only about 11 per cent use ChatGPT in educational contexts such as school, training or studies. If we only look at the usage context of regular users, the picture is different: Here, almost a third of the use takes place in the context of education.

The majority is impressed by ChatGPT

If one asks the population about their assessment of ChatGPT, the mood is rather positive. More than half of the respondents state that they are impressed by the technology and see the potential for support in many areas as positive. However, it is also clear that almost 50 percent of respondents are concerned about the potential impact on the workplace or the displacement of humans by machines. Similarly, around 48 per cent express concerns about their own privacy and data protection.

However, differences between ChatGPT users and non-users can also be observed in this context. The group of users sees the potential of the bot much more strongly. The users disagree with possible risks much more than the respondents who are (still) unfamiliar with the programme.

About the project

The Meinungsmonitor Künstliche Intelligenz [MeMo:KI] is a research partnership between the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in Bochum and the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and is funded by the Mercator Foundation. In the project, public and published opinion on the topic of AI will be recorded.

Three data sources will be used for this purpose:

1. A monthly population survey of 1,000 randomly selected citizens aged 18 and over who use the internet at least occasionally.
2. An analysis of the print and online media with the widest reach on the topic of artificial intelligence.
3. A semi-annual analysis of Twitter communication with a special focus on the network structures between actors from business, politics, journalism, civil society organisations and private individuals.

All results are available to the public and are presented in a dashboard and in interactive graphics. All users can see for themselves how the discussion about artificial intelligence is being conducted in the general public, in the print and online media and in online social networks.

About the CAIS

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been providing long-term funding for the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in Bochum as a central institute for digitisation research since April 2021. By proposing evidence-based solutions, the CAIS contributes to shaping the digital transformation in the interest of the people. The CAIS was founded as a research college at the beginning of 2017 and has since been awarding fellowships to national and international guest researchers in the field of digitalisation research. The first research programme “Digital Democratic Innovations” started in October 2021, and the second research programme “Educational Technologies and Artificial Intelligence” has been running since mid-2022. The research programmes interlink the disciplinary worlds of social sciences, humanities and computer science and test research results in practice.