UK National Survey on Attitudes to AI Companions: Aggregate Data, 2024

To ascertain how the British public feel about AI companions, we conducted a UK-wide demographically representative national survey (implemented by professional company Walnut Unlimited - a human understanding agency, part of the Unlimited Group), across 10-12 December 2024, 2073 respondents aged 18 years or over, online omnibus). This was a part of a Responsible AI award, to create soft governance of autonomous systems that interact with human emotions and/or emulate empathy.

The survey asks 22 closed-ended, multiple-choice questions on AI companions. The first set of questions (Q.1-2) glean participants’ familiarity with, and usage of, companion apps. The second set of questions (Q.3-4) explore the acceptability of design features of AI companions. The third set of questions (Q.5-7) explore the broad benefits and concerns from using AI companions. The fourth set of questions (Q.8-13) explore views on children and companion apps. The fifth set of questions (Q.14-15) explore views on older adults and companion apps. The sixth set of questions (Q.16-18) explore views on mental health issues and companion apps. The seventh set of questions (Q.19-21) explore views on desired governance of companion apps to consider the practicalities of what societies should do about AI companions, if anything. The final question (Q.22) is an evaluative question on whether participants feel AI companions are generally a positive or negative addition to society.