Consumer understanding of artificial intelligence was analyzed in a recent report by Jumio. According to the report, consumers appear to overestimate their ability to spot deepfakes, which can render them  more vulnerable to attack.

The study examined 8,055 adult consumers split evenly across the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore and Mexico. Over two-thirds (67%) say they are aware of generative AI tools — such as ChatGPT, DALL-E and Lensa AI — which can produce fabricated content, including videos, images and audio. Awareness was highest among consumers in Singapore (87%) and lowest among those in the UK (56%).

Awareness of generative AI and deepfakes among consumers is high — 52% of respondents believe they could detect a deepfake video. This sentiment reflects overconfidence on the part of consumers, given the reality that deepfakes have reached a level of sophistication that prevents detection by the naked eye.

As consumers become more aware of these technologies, there is also an emerging understanding of how they could be used to fuel identity theft. Over half (57%) believe that online identity theft will become easier as a result, and consumers in Singapore showed the highest level of understanding of their potential harmful use (73%). These levels decrease among consumers in Mexico (62%), the U.S. (49%) and the UK (43%).

The survey found that over two-thirds (68%) of consumers are open to using a digital identity to verify themselves online. The top sectors where they would prefer a digital identity over a physical ID (like a driver’s license or passport) are financial services (43%), government (38%) and healthcare (35%).