New national surveys show a population rapidly adopting artificial intelligence tools, but quietly nursing deep unease. The fault lines are clearly drawn on age, education and income – and Australians have firm views on what should be done about it.
AI tools are well known for the most prominent products, but turning that familiarity into regular use is another story. Voice assistants, which have been baked into smartphones for over a decade, dominate the weekly usage chart by a wide margin, while newer generative AI tools show a steep drop-off between those who have tried them and those who return each week.
Read this chart: Each tool shows three layers. The grey bar represents Australians who have heard of the tool. The indigo bar shows those who have tried it at least once. The coloured dot marks those who use it at least once a week. Hover over any bar or dot for exact figures.
When we look at how often Australians use AI for different purposes, and break this down by age, a generational chasm appears. For 18–29 year olds, AI-assisted learning and productivity are near-daily habits. For those over 60, non-use is the overwhelming norm across every category.
Read this chart: Darker indigo = more daily users. Hover over any cell to see the full breakdown of never / monthly / weekly / daily usage for that age group and purpose. The starkest contrast: 28% of 18–29s use AI for learning every day, versus just 6% of those over 60.
Trust in AI is not a monolith – it is highly context-dependent. Australians are okay with AI suggesting a playlist or filtering their spam. But in high-stakes situations like a medical diagnosis, a welfare decision or a criminal sentence, trust collapses and fretting explodes. Crucially, this gap has hardly moved from 2023 to 2025, suggesting neither good-news AI stories nor high-profile failures have altered attitudes much.
Read this chart: Each row shows one AI application domain. Indigo circles = trust; tomato triangles = concern. Filled shapes are 2024 data; open (hollow) shapes are 2023. Red circles flag high-stakes domains. Hover over any point for exact figures and year-on-year change.
Who trusts AI most? Basically those who already have structural advantages, such as young people, the highly educated and high earners. This is not simply a lack of knowledge. It reflects unequal exposure to the benefits of AI and disproportionate exposure to its risks. But AI governance that is built for its most trusting users risks entrenching existing inequalities.
Read this chart: Each dot represents a demographic group. Larger dots = more survey respondents. The open circle on each row shows the proportion who believe AI’s benefits outweigh its risks, often notably lower than the trust score. The dashed line marks the national average trust score of 40%. Hover for full detail.
There is a lot of anxiety but Australians are not calling for a ban on AI. Across all the governance measures tested, strong majorities want more accountability, transparency and public oversight, not less AI. The message to policy makers? The public is ahead of the regulatory conversation, and they are waiting.
Read this chart: Each bar shows the full distribution of opinion on an AI governance proposal, sorted by total support (top = highest support). Dark indigo = strongly support; iris = support; grey = neutral; coral = oppose; cherry = strongly oppose. Hover over any segment for exact figures.
This five-chart article makes the case that Australia’s AI conversation is in the wrong place. The public debate is whether AI will “take our jobs” or “change everything”, but the real evidence from national surveys tells a much more nuanced story: adoption is real, and accelerating, but it is deeply unequal; trust is there, but only in low-stakes contexts; and Australians are not waiting for permission to demand accountability, they already want it.
The timing is why this story should be run now: Australia is currently developing its national AI regulatory framework and this data shows public sentiment has already crystallised ahead of policy. The demographic divides are particularly telling, the trust gap between an 18-year-old postgraduate and a 60-year-old on a low income is not a curiosity, it’s a governance problem. If AI policy is written by and for the most trusting, we risk encoding current inequality into infrastructure.
These five charts are intended to move a general audience from “here’s what everyone’s using” to “here’s what’s at stake and what people want done about it.” Alarm is not how the story ends; agency is, and Australians have clear, constructive views on oversight that deserve more airtime than they’re getting.
Generative AI (ChatGPT, OpenAI) was used to assist with brainstorming ideas and narrative framing during the preparation of this assignment. All visualisation design decisions, interpretations, and data source selections were made by the author. Acknowledged in accordance with RMIT Library AI referencing guidelines.
The Conversation brand colour palette was applied throughout to align with publication standards.
Edelman. (2024). Edelman trust barometer 2024: Australia supplement. Edelman. https://www.edelman.com/trust/2024/trust-barometer
Fifth Quadrant & National Artificial Intelligence Centre. (2024). Australian responsible AI index 2024. Fifth Quadrant. https://www.fifthquadrant.com.au/responsible-ai-index-2024
Gillespie, N., Lockey, S., Ward, T., Macdade, A., & Hassed, G. (2023). Trust in artificial intelligence: A global study 2023. The University of Queensland & KPMG. https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmgsites/au/pdf/2023/trust-in-ai-global-insights-2023.pdf
Gillespie, N., Lockey, S., Ward, T., Macdade, A., & Hassed, G. (2025). Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025. The University of Melbourne & KPMG. https://doi.org/10.26188/28822919
Ipsos. (2024). The Ipsos AI monitor 2024. Ipsos. https://www.ipsos.com/en-au/2024_AI_Monitor
KPMG Australia. (2024). Trust in artificial intelligence: A global study 2024, Australian results. KPMG. https://kpmg.com/au/en/home/insights/2024/05/trust-artificial-intelligence-global-study-2024.html
Monash University & Gradient Institute. (2024). Australian AI index 2024. Monash University. https://www.monash.edu/data-futures-institute/research/australian-ai-index