Bitkom survey: 70% of Germans support AI in public administration

A survey by the digital association Bitkom reveals growing public acceptance of artificial intelligence in German public administration. According to the study, released ahead of the Smart Country Convention, 70 percent of German citizens support the use of AI in processing their applications, up from 63 percent the previous year.

Despite this support, most citizens still desire human oversight. Over one-third of respondents want a human to review and make the final decision while AI performs a control function. Additionally, 23 percent favor a model where AI reviews the application and a human makes the final decision. Only 12 percent of respondents would trust AI to handle both the review and the decision entirely, while the proportion of those wanting no AI involvement at all dropped from 31 to 26 percent.

Bitkom Managing Director Dr. Bernhard Rohleder described AI as the “digital key technology of our time,” noting that administrations could benefit massively from its ability to evaluate documents and handle routine tasks.