- BCG Global Survey Finds Declining Satisfaction with Digital Government Services
- Citizens Increasingly Support AI-Powered Public Services
- Public Openness to AI Is a Critical Opportunity to Modernize Government Services
BOSTON—Citizens are increasingly ready for governments to embrace artificial intelligence. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of citizens now use AI at least weekly. At the same time, satisfaction with government digital services has fallen by 13 percentage points over the past decade, creating an opportunity for governments to use AI to improve how citizens interact with public services.
These are among the findings of the latest publication from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Citizens Are Open to Public AI Services. Governments Must Seize the Opportunity, released today. This eighth biennial Digital Government Citizen Survey Report is based on BCG’s largest survey to date, capturing the views of citizens across 44 countries that represent 88% of OECD countries and approximately 70% of the world's population.
“Governments have a rare window to reshape how citizens experience public services,” said Miguel Carrasco, a BCG managing director and senior partner and coauthor of the report. “People are increasingly open to AI. But they will judge success by whether services become simpler, faster, and easier to access.”
Citizens Want AI to Do More Than Answer Questions
Citizens are increasingly comfortable with AI doing more than providing information—they want it to help deliver better public services. The survey finds growing support for AI to handle routine tasks, personalize services, and improve the citizen experience. As familiarity with AI grows, so does confidence: people with expert AI knowledge are almost seven times more likely to believe that its benefits outweigh its risks than those with no experience using the technology.
Regional AI Sentiment
Attitudes toward AI are moving in different directions by region. In the Americas, the share of citizens who believe that AI's benefits outweigh its risks rose 5 percentage points over the past two years, although this is tempered by falling optimism among younger citizens. In the Middle East and Africa, the share fell 9 percentage points, but the region remains the most AI-comfortable in the survey overall. Sentiment in Asia-Pacific and Europe held broadly steady.
Citizens Still Want Humans in the Loop
While citizens increasingly support AI in government, they are not calling for fully autonomous public services. Nearly two-thirds of respondents want human oversight for AI-enabled services, particularly when decisions become more complex or consequential.
Citizens' appetite for AI-driven public services also varies sharply by region. In the Middle East and Africa, nearly eight in ten respondents (78%) say that they are comfortable with direct AI involvement in service delivery, the highest of any region surveyed. Europe is the most cautious, as more than a third of citizens there prefer human-led services, with AI playing a supporting role only.
Governments Have More to Lose by Moving Too Slowly Than by Moving Too Quickly
Countries whose citizens believe that government AI adoption is progressing at about the right pace report significantly higher satisfaction with digital government services than countries whose citizens perceive them as lagging behind. At the same time, trust depends on visible accountability.
“Citizens have increasing expectations about the ease and speed of accessing services,” said Heidi Kim, a BCG managing director and partner and coauthor of the report. “Better service delivery, matched with safeguards they can see and understand, such as the opportunity to escalate for human review, public reporting on AI performance, and independent audits of AI systems, drives increased trust in government.”
Public Concerns About Job Losses Persist
Although public optimism toward AI continues to grow, citizens remain concerned about the ability of governments to deploy the technology responsibly. Job displacement remains the leading concern globally (cited by 32% of respondents), followed closely by the accuracy of AI-generated decisions (30%).
The Opportunity May Not Last
For governments, the survey findings suggest that today's public openness to greater AI use in public services represents a window of opportunity. Citizens increasingly see AI as part of the solution to improving those services, and expectations are rising quickly.
“Standing still is no longer the safe option,” said Dr. Lars Littig, a BCG managing director and senior partner and coauthor of the report. “Governments have a critical opportunity to use AI to transform public services, but only if they pair innovation with accountability.”
Media Contact:
Bruce Wraight
wraight.bruce@bcg.com
