WELLINGTON, March 2 — New Zealanders are increasingly worried about the societal risks of artificial intelligence (AI) even as its use increases, a report revealed on Monday.
The 2025 Internet Insights report by InternetNZ found that four in five New Zealanders used AI tools in the past year, mainly for online searches, question answering, and writing assistance.
However, 52 percent of people surveyed said they were “extremely or very concerned” about AI’s impact on society, while two thirds feared its use in generating harmful or malicious content such as deepfakes, the report showed.
Up to 64 percent of the respondents expressed concern over insufficient regulation and law of AI development, and many cited worries about potential violations of privacy, perpetuation of bias and discrimination, and misuse of intellectual property, it said.
“AI right now is a bit like a train that’s left the station before the tracks have been built,” said InternetNZ chief executive Vivien Maidaborn.
“New technologies offer a lot of exciting and useful opportunities, but we haven’t yet laid the groundwork to ensure AI use is not exacerbating harmful use of the internet,” Maidaborn was quoted as saying.
The survey of 1,003 adults, conducted in late 2025, covered internet use, social media, and related concerns. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
