Which Countries Are Most Concerned About AI Regulation?

Earlier this month, the world’s first AI-related law was passed in the EU, officially approving a comprehensive framework to constrain the risks artificial intelligence may pose. The AI Act’s purpose is to regulate AI based on the capacity it has to cause harm to society. High risk applications - such as the ability to process biometric data - may be banned altogether, whilst other low risk applications may be regulated or limited.

While the regulations apply only to EU citizens at this point in time, the passing of this law has understandably triggered a conversation on whether other countries should consider regulating the applications of AI. Plus, how these regulations may impact artificial intelligence and its uses globally.

With this in mind, our team at BanklessTimes sought to analyze which countries - sourced from the Sumsub identity Fraud Report - are most concerned with AI regulation.

“The regulation of AI and its various applications has understandably been a hot topic of debate ever since artificial intelligence began to be applied on a more regular, mainstream level. However, the launch of the EU’s first framework to regulate artificial intelligence will no doubt trigger a knock-on effect around the world with countries sitting on both sides of the fence. Some are looking to regulate AI more tightly to protect personal data and their citizens, while others may be more focused on how investors and the development of AI would be affected by stringent regulations. This analysis gives an insight into which countries may be most likely to follow the EU’s lead, and which aren’t.”

Ryan Matthews, technology expert at BanklessTimes

Singapore Most Concerned With AI Regulation

We found that out of the 50+ countries analyzed, Singapore is most concerned with AI Regulation, with an average of 2.8 searches per 100,000 people per month. Only Singapore and Ireland have an occurrence rate of 2 or more out of all countries assessed.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Singapore is one of the countries most concerned with AI regulation. The country is ranked as the third top country for AI (judged by research capacity) as of 2023, and has already been recognized as a leading investor and applicator of artificial intelligence systems.

However, Singapore has also experienced some of the harmful effects of AI. In 2023, deepfake videos circulated of Singapore’s Prime Minister - Mr Lee Hsien Loong - discussing an investment opportunity, later deemed to be a scam.

This, along with other instances of fraudulent AI applications, prompted Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) to launch new guidelines on the use of personal data in AI systems just this month.

Ireland & UK In Top 3 Countries Most Concerned With AI Regulation

The second and third countries most concerned with AI regulation were Ireland and the UK, with searches of 2.1 and 1.9 per 100,000 people respectively, indicating a higher level of concern from the public in both neighboring countries for better regulation of artificial intelligence.

While the UK is often listed within the top 5 leading AI countries, Ireland rarely features as a standout country in this field - despite the country's emerging status as a hub for technology. This suggests that while the country may not be considered a leader in AI as of yet, the general public are certainly interested in how its applications will be regulated.

The remaining top 7 countries most concerned with AI regulation in this ranking are as follows:

4. Malta

5. Montenegro

6. Canada

7. Hong Kong

8. Australia

9. USA

10. Switzerland

USA Has Highest Number Of AI Regulation-Related Searches Overall

When looking at the number of monthly searches for AI regulation alone, the USA has the highest volume by far - 4400 per month. However, given the size of the population, the number of searches can be broken down to 1.2 searches per 100,000 people - putting the country in ninth position in this ranking.

The USA is frequently ranked as one of the leading countries for AI research and capabilities - alongside China - so it’s unsurprising that AI regulation is a topic of conversation here.

China Least Concerned With AI Regulation

Out of the 55 countries analyzed for this data, we found that China is the least concerned with AI regulation - with a total of just 0.004 searches per 100,000 people (or 4 per 100 million).

This finding may be surprising to some given that China is frequently ranked in the top two leading countries for artificial intelligence research and capabilities.

While it may be that the general population of China are simply uninterested in the regulation of artificial intelligence at this point in time, it’s also worth noting that search data shared by China for this analysis may not be 100% accurate either. Google is also blocked in several areas within mainland China, so the data is likely not completely accurate.

AI Regulation Searches Increased Most in Thailand, Mexico, and Croatia in Last 3 Months

AI regulation has been a hot topic ever since artificial intelligence was catapulted into the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in 2023, but as the applications of AI continue to evolve, so too do the conversations around law enforcement for this new technology.

Looking at the change in searches for AI regulation over the past three months (the first quarter of 2024), we can see three key countries in which searches have significantly increased:

• Thailand - 133%

• Mexico - 120%

• Croatia - 100%

Thailand's heightened interest in AI regulation may be surprising to some, in particular, given the general agreement between Southeast Asian countries to take a more “business-friendly approach” to AI regulation than the EU’s own more rigid framework.

European Countries Dominate AI Regulation-Concerned Countries

It’s interesting to note that out of the top 10 countries most concerned with AI regulation,three are a part of the EU (Ireland, Malta, and Montenegro), while the UK and Switzerland, also in the top 10, are in Europe.

While the EU’s regulations will only affect countries within the EU, there’s no denying that AI regulation is a topic that, at this point, is of the highest concern for European countries. It may be that the relatively recent introduction of GDPR (2016) across the EU - also adopted by several neighboring countries - which focused on greater protections when processing personal data, has had a residual effect when considering AI and the potential harm it could cause.

Methodology

We used a source list of countries from the Sumsub 2023 Identity Fraud Report, and found the average monthly number of searches for “AI regulation” in Google Keyword Planner. To generalize the data, we calculated the total number of monthly searches per 100,000 people, based on population data per country from Worldometers.