One in three Russians has used neural networks in the last three months, mostly for entertainment purposes, business magazine Inc. Russia reported on Monday, citing a study by the Avito analytical center.
Awareness of AI tools across the country is “high,” the article claimed, noting that nearly half of respondents in almost all regions had used neural networks in the past three months. The majority of AI users in Russia (60%) are aged 18-24, while 20% of those surveyed said they use AI every day, the report added.
The top purpose for AI use among all respondents was entertainment (59%), followed by learning (33%) and work (26%), according to the survey results.
Breaking down the age groups, the survey showed that most respondents aged 18-24 use AI for study (47%) and work (28%). The majority aged 25-34 use it for entertainment (64%) and work (29%), while those aged 54 and older use neural networks for household (17%), financial (19%), and medical (23%) tasks.
The most popular tasks for neural networks among Russians are creating images (39%), texts (30%), and making selections or recommendations of movies and music (23%), the magazine reported.
AI has learned to be a “skilled invisible assistant” in everyday life and has become “indispensable” in business, solving labor-intensive tasks, and helping to reallocate resources, said Andrey Rybintsev, chief data officer at Avito.
Russian neural network YandexGPT is the most popular overall among the study participants (56%), followed by ChatGPT (29%), and Kandinsky (13%), Inc. reported. It noted that ChatGPT is most popular (53%) among younger users.
The use of ChatGPT by a student at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) caused controversy in February, when he announced he had written and successfully defended his thesis with the help of an AI-powered chatbot. He claimed the whole project took 23 hours, with about 15 hours spent working with ChatGPT and the rest on editing, while his classmates reportedly spent weeks writing their theses.
After the student shared the story on X (formerly Twitter), RGGU received complaints asking for his diploma to be revoked. The university then called for “restricting access to ChatGPT in educational facilities.”
Speaking about the future of AI, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that it is “impossible” to prevent its development. Russia needs to “lead” this process and become one of the key players in this area, he added.
The president stressed that world leaders need to avoid creating conditions that could lead to threats to humanity from AI, as “no one knows” how it will turn out.