The region seems more interested in generative tools than the rest of the world right now. That is clearly not the same in the US, where the current furor started at the end of last year with Chat GPT.
Now, every time you call or text a company asking for assistance or information and an unexpectedly prompt, almost useful answer comes back – you wonder whether the ineffable magic of generative AI is humming in the background.
Regardless of whether true or not, just the fact that you think that way is a sign of how much consumers, businesses, and finance, have been impacted by the rise of a new generation of artificial intelligence tools heralded by the launch of Chat GPT exactly one year and two and a half weeks ago.
Asia Tops the Ranks
The enthusiasm for AI right now seems to be the highest in Asia, according to information disclosed on Wednesday by online publisher Visual Capitalist.
They used data from ElectronicsHub that recorded Google search volumes by country and category and then, for comparability, derived a number measuring it against a standard population size of 100,000 in each country.
Crowding Others Out
Five countries from the Asia Pacific region made it to the top ten, with the Philippines coming in first with the highest monthly search volume for AI tools (5,288 per 100,000 population).
They were followed by Singapore in second place (3,036), with Australia (5th), Malaysia (6th) and New Zealand (10th) rounding up the list. The United Arab Emirates, which can be generously rated as being at least half in the region, came in fourth.
Text and Image
They also split the figures for text, image, video, and audio generative AI. For text, the Asia Pacific region closely mirrored the combined result, with five countries in the top ten.
When it came to image generation, the picture was decidedly more mixed. Israel came out on top followed by Singapore but here only 3 countries (New Zealand in sixth and Australia in tenth) from Asia Pacific ranked all that high.
But not Audio
Audio, which Uruguay led, showed the same. Only Australia, placing fifth, made the top ten list. Video, however, saw Singapore come out on top, followed by Australia (6th) and New Zealand (7th).
Visual Digest analyzed the implications, saying that tools such as Quillbot have helped users check what they write for more than five years and that the tools to draft emails and create job application packages are clearly in demand in Asia.
US Displays Little Interest
The irony here is that the US, the country where Chat GPT was launched, shows far less interest given they came in 13th (1,187 searches) on the combined list.
It was no different, and even some might say worse, related to the other categories. They placed 16th for text, followed by images (17), audio (14), and video (21).
First Out
So what is going on? Possibly, it was because they were the first out, with the initial hype even prompting a strong equity rally in 2023 which had much to do with AI and big tech. And what we are currently seeing may simply be a return to relative normality after the overexuberance earlier in the year.
But these are early days, and generative tech is still in the starting blocks.
Occasionally Infuriating
It could also be related to something quite different.
Has anybody ever argued with an increasingly infuriating AI bot on WhatsApp related to something basic like the delivery of a package?
Tiptoeing Around
It is somewhat like gingerly pressing specific numbers on a dial pad to get assistance or more information from a retail bank or internet provider although you don’t have to wait an interminable amount of time to get someone on the line and then dread getting cut off.
It is slightly amenable, even more polite, but at the end of the day, it isn’t all that much better – at least not yet.
