As artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technologies become more prevalent, a survey has found that three out of four people in China are worried about the threat that AI poses to their privacy, challenging the popular notion that the Chinese care little about giving up personal data.

State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) and Tencent Research surveyed 8.000 respondents on their attitudes toward AI as part of CCTV’s China Economic Life Survey. The results show that 76.3 per cent see certain forms of AI as a threat to their privacy, even as they believe that AI holds much development potential and will permeate different industries. About half of the respondents said that they believe AI is already affecting their work life, while about a third see AI as a threat to their jobs. 

Anxiety has risen over how intrusive AI will be and if they will steal jobs away from humans as companies increasingly deploy the technology, from recommending videos and songs to replacing cashiers with facial recognition and mobile payments. The World Bank estimates that three out of four jobs in China can be replaced by automation by 2030.

On the mainland, everything from registering a mobile phone number to posting on microblogging site Weibo, or signing up for mobile payments service WeChat Pay, requires users to go through an identity verification process. Recent events suggest that consumers are demanding more transparency from China’s technology giants on the way they handle their personal data.