The press release was prepared by Volodymyr Paniotto, the president of KIIS

From February 14 to March 4, 2025, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey "Omnibus", to which, on its own initiative, added a question about artificial intelligence. By the method of telephone interviews(computer-assistedtelephoneinterviews, CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting) in all regions of Ukraine (the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine), 1,029 respondents were surveyed. The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived in the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (at the same time, some of the respondents are IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who left abroad after February 24, 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 4.1% for indicators close to 50%, 3.5% for indicators close to 25%, 2.5% for indicators close to 10%, 1.8% for indicators close to 5%.

Under the conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. Factors that may affect the quality of results in "wartime" conditions were previously cited by KIIS.

In general, we believe that the obtained results are still highly representative and allow a fairly reliable analysis of the public moods of the population.

The use of artificial intelligence in modern society is not just important, but critically necessary for the development of technology, economy and social processes. Artificial intelligence (AI) opens up new horizons in science, medicine, education, business, public administration, etc., contributing to increasing efficiency, accuracy and productivity in various areas. The degree of use of AI can be one of the indicators of the potential of a modern state.

Given the importance and potential of AI, we decided to conduct a research on its use by the population of Ukraine. Below are the results of this research (see graph 1).

Graph 1. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are currently being actively developed. Do you personally use Artificial Intelligence for work or for your own needs?

The results of the research demonstrate that despite the active development of AI-based technologies, their actual use among Ukrainians remains limited. 64% of the population does not use AI at all, of which:

• 12% hear about AI for the first time and do not know what it is;
• 52% know about AI, but have never used it.

Another 9% of respondents tried using AI, but did not implement it in their daily lives.

Only 26% of respondents have experience in practical use of AI, of which:

• 9% are irregular users (several times a month or less);
•  17% are regular users (12% are daily or almost daily and 5% are several times a week);

These figures indicate a high level of awareness of AI (88%), but at the same time a significant gap between knowledge and practice. Only one in eight Ukrainians has actively integrated AI into their daily lives, and the share of regular users (at least once a week) is 17%.

Age has the greatest impact on AI usage (see graph 2).

Graph 2. The impact of age on AI usage (percentage of regular users)

The results of the research indicate a strong dependence of the use of AI on the age of the respondent. The highest level of regular use was recorded among young people aged 18-29 - more than half (54%) of this group regularly use AI. In the category of 30-44 years, this indicator is only 21%, and among people aged 60 and over - only 4%. This may indicate a significant digital gap between generations.

Gender. Men are significantly more likely to use AI – 23% of them are regular users, while only 13% of women are.

Type of settlement. Urban residents are much more active users of AI than rural residents. Among the general urban population (residents of urban centers and cities of any size), the level of regular use is 21%, while among the rural population – only 9%. Moreover, there is also differentiation among the urban population – the larger the city, the more active users. If among residents of urban centers / small cities with a population of up to 20 thousand, 13% regularly use AI, then the indicator increases to 25% in the largest cities with a population of over 500 thousand inhabitants.

This may be due to better infrastructure, internet access, and digital services in larger settlements.

Welfare.  The impact of the welfare level is shown in graph 3.

Graph 3. The impact of welfare on AI usage (percentage of regular users)

The higher the level of welfare, the more actively respondents use AI. Only 4% of people who do not have enough even for food use AI regularly. Among those who can afford expensive things, this indicator is 27%, and among those who can afford almost everything – 39%.

Surprisingly, education has less impact on AI usage, and region also has a negligible impact.

Our second question we asked respondents was (if they knew about AI at all): “What do you think about its impact on the world and people? Does AI “promote progress and rather bring us closer to a better future” or “Contain many risks and rather bring us closer to significant problems or even disasters”.

Graph 4. Perception of the impact of AI on the world and people

% among those who know AI (regardless of experience and frequency of use)

Opinions on AI are divided. The largest share of respondents (45%) express concerns about AI, believing that it carries significant risks and could lead to serious problems or even disasters. This indicates a high level of anxiety and distrust in technological progress.

At the same time, 39% of respondents have a positive view – they believe that AI promotes progress and brings humanity closer to a better future. This is a significant share, demonstrating the readiness of a part of society to accept innovations.

Overall, the balance between optimists and pessimists regarding AI is skewed towards cautious or critical perceptions, with the exception of young people. In the 18-29 age group, 63% are optimists and only 30% are pessimists.

Commentary by V. Paniotto:

In today's world, where technology is rapidly changing the way we live and work, Ukraine must actively apply artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve sustainable development and recovery from war. AI has enormous potential to promote technological progress and increase the country's competitiveness on the global stage. As we see, in Ukraine, the use of AI is only gaining momentum, a significant part of the population is still not familiar with or does not use these technologies. Only 17% of respondents regularly use AI, while in the USA a year ago, 55% of the population regularly interacted with AI[1].

This indicator indicates a significant difference in the levels of implementation and use of AI between Ukraine and developed countries.

However, at the same time, Ukraine is somewhat ahead of Russia[2]. The question posed by the Levada Center was: “Do you use artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, neural networks, etc. And if so, how often?” Answer options and comparison results in the table[3]:

As we see, in Ukraine there are significantly more regular users (17% compared to 6%) and much fewer who have not heard of AI (12% compared to 41%). We must constantly increase this difference - this is the key to technological dominance.

In order to make up for lost time and ensure a stable future, Ukraine must focus on digitalization and integration of modern technologies into all spheres of life. It is important to actively support the development of AI in Ukraine by investing in relevant research and development, as well as implementing training and advanced training programs for the population.

At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that new technologies, in particular AI, bring not only benefits, but also significant challenges. The use of AI can replace many professions, and if society does not provide alternative ways of employment and retraining, this can lead to increased unemployment, social tension and increased inequality. Therefore, the implementation of AI should take into account the principles of harmonious development, social responsibility and preventing a new gap between the ultra-rich technological elites and the rest of society.