IFOP 2024 Barometer for Talan "French and Generative AI"

Over the course of a year, there has been a 60% increase in the number of generative AI users. 

There is also a very strong interest from the younger generations in using these technologies, with nearly 70% of 18- to 24-year-olds using them personally, compared to only 47% of 25- to 34-year-olds and 22% of those aged 35 and over. 

Generative AI has become commonplace in professional life. 48% of those who use generative AI believe that their company encourages them to use it, and they are increasingly informing their superiors (36% compared to 25% in May 2023). Thus, there is progress in understanding the use of generative AI in business by management and executives as they better recognise its benefits. 

Users estimate a 38% gain in productivity and efficiency thanks to generative AI. A figure that will certainly interest business leaders and economists. Is this a path worth considering to offset the 8.5% productivity decline in France since 2019? (Banque de France) 

Not surprisingly, French people who use generative AI remain the most convinced of its benefits. 80% of them could recommend its use to others. 

Training in the use of generative AI remains an important point for popularising its use. Indeed, 37% of users feel they do not have sufficient knowledge to use it, and this figure rises to 73% on average when the entire panel is questioned. 

In terms of usage, it is not surprising that OpenAI's ChatGPT is the preferred tool for 66% of users, ahead of Google's Bard-Gemini (15%), Adobe Photoshop AI (14%), and Microsoft's Bing Copilot (13%). 11% report using a paid version of ChatGPT at €20/month. 

A notable point is that 44% of users (and 61% of 25- to 34-year-olds) reproduce generative AI results as they are without modifying them, and 35% say they would have difficulty doing without generative AI. 

75% of generative AI users do not think these tools can automate more than 30% of their professional tasks, with 46% thinking they could not automate more than 10% of their professional tasks. 

A dark point is the fear surrounding the risks posed by generative AI, which has increased. 79% of French people aged 18 and over declare themselves worried about the emergence of generative AI (compared to 68% in May 2023). 62% of French people and 74% of managers and upper-middle-class professionals consider them to be a significant risk to data security, compared to 53% in May 2023, an increase of +17% in one year. 

*Generative AI is a particular type of artificial intelligence that allows for the generation of text, images, videos, or code from a human textual request (e.g., ChatGPT, Dall-E, Midjourney, etc.). 

Expert Analysis - Philippe Cassoulat, CEO of the Talan Group: 

"These figures show a strong push for these artificial intelligence technologies within the population, with a +60% increase in usage compared to 2023. Not surprisingly, the most used tool remains ChatGPT. It will be interesting to measure, throughout 2024, the evolution of these usages with the recent arrival of Google Gemini Pro 1.5 (which achieves in relevance tests certain results superior to those of ChatGPT 4), Bing Copilot, and Copilot for Microsoft 365 in companies. The emergence of open-source generative AI, more dedicated to professional uses (LLama 2, Mistral, etc.), will also open up the playing field, especially for businesses. 

We still notice a real generational shock. While the younger generations (18- to 24-year-olds) indicate that nearly 70% use generative AI (compared to 45% in 2023, an increase of more than 50% from one year to the next), only 22% of those aged 35 and overuse them (compared to 18% in 2023, an increase of only 22% in one year). This should prompt companies to understand the extent of this phenomenon, which will necessarily have an impact on work methods within companies and their attractiveness. 

The reasons for using generative AI remain largely unchanged: conducting searches as in a search engine, saving time, increasing knowledge, etc. The use of generative AI as a search engine remains a particularly delicate point given the risk of false answers or misinformation when used in this context. 

What now seems to be consensus is the effect of generative AI on increasing productivity and efficiency: +38% on average. Even 46% of 18- to 24-year-olds estimate this productivity increase at over 40%. 

These figures can, of course, vary depending on the tasks performed, the level of knowledge of the subject matter, and how the user queries the generative AI (Prompting). 

The main expectations of respondents in their daily professional lives are very concrete: automatic creation of formulas in spreadsheets, automatic transcription of meetings, synthesis of internal and external documents and reports, proposal for optimising schedules. 

We are only at the beginning of the use and integration of generative AI. The recent report from the Artificial Intelligence Commission "AI: Our Ambition for France," published in March 2024, provides clues on the major projects to be implemented to make France a leader in these technologies. The 2024 IFOP Barometer for Talan offers precise and significant insights that illuminate the issues raised in this report. They highlight the urgency of intervening in training and understanding technologies to effectively address the challenges encountered." 

About IFOP 

For 80 years, IFOP has been the reference in terms of polls and market studies. Its approach is based on the combination of perspectives: sectoral expertise, professional perspective, prospective vision, and international outlook. Its activity is structured around the historical Opinion poll as well as its sector-specific marketing expertise. A brand completes the offer – Sociovision. An agile group that maintains close relationships with its clients, IFOP operates in around fifty countries from offices in Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and New York.