Deep dive into the data below by consumption area or digital service, see how selected countries scored and learn more about the sustainability impact of various digital services.
NEW: The 2024 Index also includes a deep dive on consumer attitudes and challenges regarding Artificial Intelligence.
Sustainability impact of the Digital Service
A list of all 40 digital services analyzed in the study, ranked from the most to the least empowering can be seen below. For each digital service, a score is provided in parentheses. Improvements are compared to the 2023 data, showcasing year-over-year advancements in user empowerment.
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Comparing countries progress over the years
Although consumers perceive AI as a pervasive technology, the majority of responders across countries have never used genAI tools. Some 43% of the surveyed even state that they are aware of these applications but have never used them. The main barriers to access are the skills gap (33%), skepticism about this new technology (26%), privacy concerns (21%) and lack of trust in the results (21%). In contrast, about 10% of consumers state that they use genAI applications frequently or even every day. 60% of users of generative AI applications are rather or completely satisfied with the accuracy of the results or information retrieved. Consumers find generative AI applications most useful when it comes to creativity and content creation as well as consultation and learning.
Belgium: Regular and high-frequency usage levels are comparable to the cross-country average, with Creativity and content creation being the most prominent use case. Two-thirds of those who use genAI tools are satisfied with the accuracy of results.
Bulgaria: Bulgarian consumers are less aware of genAI applications (one out of five never heard of them) and a lower level of frequent or everyday users than the rest of the surveyed countries. Consultation and learning is the most cited purpose amongst Bulgarian consumers who benefit from genAI tools.
Italy: Italian consumers use genAI less than the average survey responder mainly because they don’t find them useful or do not need them (one third of non users selected this as the main reason to avoid them). Those that do make use of the technology find consultation and learning the most advantageous usage area.
Poland: On average, Polish consumers conform to the cross-country average in terms of frequency of genAI use. 69% of those responders are using the technology to support creativity and content creation.
Portugal: Compared to the other surveyed countries, Portuguese consumers have the highest number of responses on frequent genAI usage. Creativity and content creation is the biggest use case.
Spain: 10% of Spanish responders use genAI frequently or every day. Spanish consumers using genAI tools have the highest level of satisfaction with outputs among the 6 highlighted countries.
When it comes to the level of confidence that EU consumers have in using AI applications, on average, only about 25% of responders state that they have some level of familiarity and only 9% feel fully skilled. Our data shows a persistent skill gap among consumers of each EU Member State and noticeable differences in skill levels between Member States. For example, 35% of consumers from Italy state that they do not have the necessary knowledge to use AI-based services, while in Poland only 26% state the same.
According to the experts, the digitalisation of services also has mostly a positive impact on sustainability by democratising access, reducing raw material use and transport emissions, and so on. At the same time, they express concerns around energy use and increased consumption.
Overall, experts are optimistic that with the mix of public awareness, innovative technologies and the right policies, digitalisation can help create a more sustainable future.
Very Positive
Positive
Moderately positive
* The impact was assessed on a 7 step scale from “Very negative impact” to “Very positive impact”
** The bars correspond to the % of respondents that used the service at least once in the past 2 years
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