Brazil Survey Shows Regional Gaps in AI Awareness and Widespread Fear of Fraud

A national survey by Febraban and the IPESPE Institute conducted in early June 2026 interviewed 3,000 Brazilians across all five regions. Overall, 92% of respondents said they had heard of artificial intelligence, with awareness ranging from 88% in the North to 94% in the South. When asked how well informed they felt, 70% of people in the South considered themselves informed or very informed, compared with only 54% in the Northeast. Only one‑third of Brazilians said they could reliably identify AI‑generated texts, images, video or audio.

Use of AI in everyday digital services was reported by 69% of the population on average; the South led with 77%, while other regions hovered around the national average. Familiarity with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Claude remained low, with just 35% saying they knew these platforms well.

The dominant concern across the country was the risk of fraud and digital scams enabled by AI, cited by 84% of respondents nationally and reaching 90% in the Center‑West and 88% in the Northeast. Worry about deep‑fake videos influencing elections was also high, especially in the Center‑West (86%) and the Northeast (79%). Environmental impacts of data‑center operations drew mixed attention, with the lowest concern in the South (46%).