62 % of Europeans view AI positively

STADA Health Report:
62 % of Europeans view AI positively, but GPs and pharmacists still outshine Dr. Google and Dr. AI

Digitalization is sweeping across every aspect of life, and AI is rapidly gaining momentum. But to what extent can we embrace these innovations, and where do we still hold back? The STADA Health Report 2024 shows that 62 percent of Europeans generally have a positive attitude towards artificial intelligence. 1 in 2 (47%) believe they have a strong grasp of the technology and is confident that it will benefit society, and another 15 percent are open to explore AI’s possibilities. Nevertheless, when it comes to its use in personal healthcare, the majority of Europeans are still uneasy.

Technology versus professionals: Dr. Google and Dr. AI still can’t compete with general practitioners and pharmacists. Europeans largely trust doctors (63%) and pharmacists (54%) for recommendations on OTC products, while only 16 percent trust Google & Co., and just 1 in 10 Europeans considers AI as trustworthy for such advice (12%). But in terms of providing information for purchase decisions about OTC products, Google (40%) remains an important source of information and actually outperforms doctors (35%) and pharmacists slightly (38%).

Europeans see various reasons for scepticism about AI when it comes to personal healthcare: they are especially concerned about the misuse of AI, e.g. someone having unauthorized access to their personal data (64%). More than 1 in 2 also worry about the loss of empathy in human interaction (59%) as well as the loss of human jobs (56%) and data security (57%). In general, women are more concerned than men about the use of technology in their personal healthcare. This is particularly evident in two aspects: women are significantly more concerned about the loss of empathy in human interaction (64%) than men (53%) and the loss of human jobs (61% vs. 51%).

These are the results of the sixth international STADA Health Report 2024, a representative study with over 46,000 respondents from 23 countries. On behalf of STADA Arzneimittel AG, the market research institute Human8 surveyed around 2,000 people each between the ages of 18 and 99 from: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. Further information on the STADA Health Report and much more can be found at Hemofarm - News - Ten years of Stada Health Report.