New research reveals Cardiff is the most AI-savvy city in the UK

A new report on how consumers use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and what they use them for has revealed that Cardiff is the most AI-savvy city in the UK.

The research, commissioned by Yell, includes survey data from over 2,000 consumers and 1,000 business owners on how often they use AI.

Cardiff topped the rankings with 23% of residents saying they used various forms of AI on a daily basis, significantly, above the UK average of 15%.

Liverpool, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Brighton all finished in the top five behind the Welsh capital, while London was outside of the top ten in 11th place – with 14% of Londoners saying they used AI every day.

Across the UK banking apps are the most popular form of AI-based tech, with 59% of the population using them to help manage their finances more efficiently – although, in some cities such as Belfast, this figure is much higher with almost three quarters (72%) of residents using this form of tech.

Digital assistants

In three cities across the UK, the most popular form of AI tech is digital assistants such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices. Glasgow is the city with the highest usage of this tech, at 62%, with Newcastle (57%), Norwich (55%) and Sheffield (48%) residents using the devices more than any other form of AI-based tech.

Looking at each of these key technologies in isolation, there are some cities where some types of AI-tech are much more popular than the UK average – for example, Belfast residents are the stand-out favourites of savvy financial planning, while smart home set-ups such as apps to control heating and lighting are particularly favoured by those in Brighton.

Cardiff led the UK in the use of smart locks, with 9% of those questioned saying they used them on a regular basis, 2% above the UK average.

Digital revolution

Claire Miles, Chief Executive Officer of Yell said: “Many of us have lived through the digital revolution with first, personal computers, then mobile devices and now AI, changing the way that we conduct our daily lives and interact with the world around us.

“As with any new technology, there will always be early adopters, however it’s interesting to see how different cities are further ahead with their shift to AI than others.

With consumers becoming more comfortable with the AI technology, different marketplaces and ways of booking a job, getting an instant response by chatbot, paying securely online, this is an evolving area for businesses to take note of.

“For example, businesses in Cardiff may do well to ensure they’re introducing and utilising AI within their customer-facing operations, given that people in their locality are happy to use it.

“Likewise for Glasgow-based businesses, where a third of people are happy to use chatbots, significantly above the national average.”