A comprehensive survey on the societal impact of artificial intelligence (AI) recently released by City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) examines public acceptance and trust in AI in two key areas: workplace employment and healthcare. The survey found that while the willingness of Hong Kong citizens to use AI has continued to climb, concerns about job displacement have not abated. In healthcare applications, while most citizens accept AI assistance for personal health management, they firmly prefer decision making in clinical diagnosis to be led by doctors.
The release of this study comes as Hong Kong actively advances its digital and intelligent transformation. However, the Labour and Welfare Bureau's Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection, released in September, projects that 20% to 30% of local jobs could face restructuring, further intensifying psychological pressure in the labour market.
The research was led by Professor Christine Huang Yi-hui, Chair Professor of the Department of Media and Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at CityUHK. The research team conducted three-wave longitudinal online surveys spanning 18 months, from February to April 2025, December 2025 to February 2026, and May to July 2026. In the latest third-wave survey, the team polled 1,362 Hong Kong citizens aged 20 or above, specifically analysing a longitudinal panel of 398 respondents who participated in all three waves to objectively capture the dynamic evolution of public attitudes since early 2025.
Rising willingness to use AI; Youth and middle-income earners most concerned
Data from the three-wave longitudinal study indicate that citizens' willingness to use AI has risen steadily. The percentage of respondents with a higher willingness to use AI increased from 67.4% in early 2025 to 77.5% in mid-2026, marking a cumulative increase of 10.1 percentage points. However, the growing prevalence of technology has not eliminated workplace unease. In the latest survey, 53.7% of respondents remained considerably concerned that their jobs would be displaced by AI, a level virtually unchanged from the previous year.
Cross-tabulation by demographic characteristics reveals that workplace anxiety is heavily concentrated among three groups. Young adults aged 20 to 34, at the formative stage of their careers, felt the most acute pressure, with 61.3% expressing concerns about their job security. Among bachelor's degree holders, 60.6% worried about being replaced by AI. And middle-income citizens, with a monthly household income between HK$30,000 and HK$60,000, were similarly uneasy, with nearly six in ten (56.6%) expressing concern about job displacement.