New research from mobile network operator Talkmobile reveals that a third of people in Newcastle (31%) think negatively when it comes to AI - from ChatGPT to AI videos and chatbots.
But the study has revealed a generational divide among people living in Newcastle when it comes to AI and its rising prevalence in modern Britain.
A third of the city’s baby boomers (aged 60 to 78) as well as Gen Xs (aged 44-59) think AI is having a negative effect on life (33%) while millennials (aged 28 to 43) are the most positive about it, with nearly a third (29%) believing it brings a benefit to their lives.
Nearly two-thirds of Geordies (62%) think the frequent use of AI is becoming ‘annoying’ - a sentiment shared most by Generation X in the Tyneside city, with 67%.
Surprisingly, half of Gen Zs in Newcastle believe AI is becoming ‘annoying’ (50%) while a further six in ten (57%) of the generation above them, millennials, think its use is becoming too much to bear.
Seven in ten (70%) Newcastle locals believe it is ‘easy’ to spot when someone is using AI software like ChatGPT.
Gen Zs have the sharpest eye for noticing AI, with every participant of the survey saying that they could spot the tell-tale signs - while two-thirds of Gen Xs (66%) think they would struggle to identify it.
Half (50%) of Newcastle residents have ‘never’ used AI in their lives, however, 15% use it on a ‘weekly’ basis, with another 8% using it daily.
Three-quarters (75%) of boomers in Newcastle have ‘never’ used AI, in contrast to a third (36%) of millennials who have said that they have never used AI in their lives.
Millennials were the generation who used it the most every day, with a fifth (21%).
More than half (56%) of Geordies have said that they would be ‘annoyed’ if they found a work colleague using AI to do their job.
In an ever-changing world of AI, Talkmobile - the winner of eight customer care awards since 2023 – promotes great value over complexity, and is committed to connecting its customers with a real person in its call centre in under 20 seconds.
Negativity towards AI is slightly lower in Newcastle compared to the rest of the UK, which is at 37%, according to the survey of 2,000 adults from across the nation.
Half (50%) of UK adults aged 60 to 78 believe AI is having a negative impact on society, compared to one in 10 (14%) who think it is having a positive influence.
Sarah Boyle, Head of Operations at Talkmobile said: “There are very few aspects of our lives that are not already influenced by AI - the genie is out of the bottle, it is here to stay.
“While we at Talkmobile share in the excitement that this new tech offers the world, we know just how much our customers value that human connection.
“For us, communication means human to human contact – and that will never seem old fashioned to us.”