Ever Heard of Ethical AI? Investigating the Salience of Ethical AI Issues among the German Population

Building and implementing ethical AI systems that benefit the whole society is cost-intensive and a multi-faceted task fraught with potential problems. While on one hand there are technical solutions to mitigate social problems, on the other hand, citizen perceptions can lead to social and political demands that influence the social implementation of AI systems. In this study, we explore the salience of AI issues in the public with an emphasis on ethical criteria to the likelihood that ethical AI is actively demanded by the public. Based on data from 15 surveys (N = 14,988 respondents), our results show that the majority of the German population was not concerned with AI at all. Thereby, the issue salience is dependent on general interest in AI and a higher educational level. Ethical issues are of concern for only a small subset of citizens. However, the salience of ethical issues affects the behavioral intentions of citizens in the way that they tend to avoid AI technology and engage in public discussions about AI. We conclude that the low level of ethical implications may pose a serious problem for the actual implementation of ethical AI for the Common Good.