Why Public Perception Matters in Frontier Technologies
This week, we published the inaugural edition of the Hotwire Frontier Tech Confidence Tracker. This is an important new research initiative for us, and it was triggered by a simple question: how do the assumptions that business leaders bring to frontier technology compare to how the general public actually feels about it?
This question matters because the value of innovation relies on people believing in it, engaging with it, and valuing it. When that belief fails, it can put a business’s reputation, its growth, and even its operational viability at risk.
And it matters even more because we know that, more than ever, businesses are enthusiastically putting frontier technology at the heart of their strategic plans for transformation and growth. Often, tech is now the foundation that everything else rests on.
A Stark Sentiment Gap Between Business and the Public
What we found is startling. Our headline index measures overall usage and positivity toward a basket of fifteen frontier technologies on a 0-100 scale. Business leaders from across five European markets scored 77. The general public in those markets, meanwhile, scored just 48.
In other words, while businesses are enthusiastically driving forward with investment and adoption, the society around them is on the fence about the benefits of frontier technology. The gap grows even larger for key technologies like generative AI, automation, and blockchain, which all show gaps of at least thirty points.
Using the Frontier Technology Tracker to Monitor and Influence Change
Our aim is to repeat this research in coming years to track how this gap, and the other data we are gathering, changes over time as cultural attitudes evolve. More urgently, though, we can work today to influence those attitudes. This report measures the risk, but it also helps us to act on that risk.
What Can Businesses Do Right Now?
There are many steps that businesses can take. Understanding audience attitudes by investing in intelligence is an important first step. Taking an ambitious approach to upskilling employees equips internal audiences with the tools to explain and support adoption. And, in a key finding, using scientists and researchers for communications is more persuasive than relying on founders and executives.
The biggest thing that I hope people will take from this work, though, is about transparency. People have a right to understand the brands that they rely on. Businesses therefore have a duty to proactively explain their actions, informing and engaging people about how they are using technology. Transparency, first and foremost, is how we can combat fear, build trust, and drive buy-in.
Why Transparency Is the Way Forward
Our research shows that a fundamental division is opening up between how businesses and the public see the world. The imperative for transparency has never been more critical. And we now have the data to show exactly what the risks and opportunities here look like.
To learn more about what our research has uncovered, download the full report below.