Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is growing in Singapore despite ongoing trust concerns, EY‘s survey showed Tuesday.
According to EY AI Sentiment Survey 2026, in the past six months alone, more than eight in 10 respondents (84 percent) in Singapore (global 84 percent) used AI, and 15 percent (global 16 percent) report using AI systems that act without human intervention.
This suggests AI use is extending beyond initial experimentation and autonomy is no longer a future scenario but an evolving reality.
“The survey findings reflect there is already a growing minority of people who are delegating decisions to AI, while many more are relying on AI as an assistant within everyday life,
“There is an opportunity for organizations to influence and grow agentic AI acceptance by strategically identifying specific moments, users and markets,” said Manik Bhandari, EY Asean Data and Artificial Intelligence Leader.
For example, a healthcare provider could develop an agent that helps patients manage their medications and check for safety issues, or a public service institution could support citizens to access government services or apply for benefits autonomously.
“What separates successful implementers from the laggards would be
those that reinvent operating models around real business outcomes, effective guardrails and closer human-agent collaboration,” he added.
The annual survey, now in its second edition, surveyed more than 18,000 people aged 18 and older from 23 markets to understand how people perceive and use AI over the last six months. This edition includes 502 respondents from Singapore.
The survey also finds that AI’s rapid adoption has been driven less by increased user trust in the technology and more through familiarity from everyday low-stakes use.
Tasks such as route planning, customer support, travel planning and content recommendations have become embedded in daily routines.
That everyday comfort is now laying the groundwork for delegation.
Among Singapore respondents, 6 percent (global 9 percent) have used self‐driving vehicles or autonomous taxis.
7 percent (global 10 percent) have relied on AI agents to purchase products on their behalf, while 8 percent (global 11 percent) allow AI to manage banking tasks.
Even among those who have not yet used autonomous AI, openness is high.
One‐third of respondents (Singapore 33 percent, global 36 percent) say they would prefer AI to automatically redeem points or apply discounts at checkout, while close to half (Singapore 44 percent, global 34 percent) indicate they would use an AI assistant to resolve customer service issues without their involvement.
In addition, a meaningful share are open to AI taking the lead in higher‐stakes scenarios such as home security (Singapore 26 percent, global 30 percent) where an AI-powered system locks doors or contacts authorities automatically, or medical appointment scheduling (Singapore 20 percent, global 21 percent).
While use is accelerating, confidence in how AI is governed has not kept pace.
Across all markets, people continue to express concern about security, control, accountability and authenticity, yet, these concerns are not slowing adoption.
Instead, they are shaping expectations for how autonomy should be introduced.
The study finds that in Singapore (76 percent; global 66 percent) worry about AI systems being hacked or breached.
Nearly seven in ten are concerned about organizations either failing to hold themselves accountable for negative AI use (Singapore 71 percent, global 59 percent) or protect the privacy of their data (Singapore 70 percent, global 62 percent).
79 percent (global 73 percent) fear they will no longer be able to tell what is real or AI‐generated.
While early adopters appear in every market, the rate of adoption is not uniform. The research identifies eight “pioneer” markets that are further along in their AI journey and for which use is
broader, more frequent and deeply embedded in everyday life.
These markets include India, the Chinese mainland, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong SAR and South Korea, and collectively 94 percent of people in these markets report using AI, with nearly one in four (24 percent) of
them having already used autonomous AI.
The remaining countries were split into either “transitional” markets, where overall adoption has been slower but use and interest is starting to grow, or “lagging” markets, which show greater hesitation, lower perceived relevance and more selective use.
These markets were 12 percent and 17 percent respectively behind “pioneer” markets with regards to overall AI use and 11 percent and 13 percent respectively behind in agentic use.
“Singapore sits within the transitional phase of AI adoption. This is not due to a lack of capability but because expectations around trust, governance and value are significantly higher,
“While usage is growing, it is still more deliberate and use-case driven rather than deeply embedded in everyday decisions and business operations,” said Bhandari.
According to the him, the next phase is not just about scaling AI but integrating it responsibly into the core of the society and economy.
“This means building confidence in autonomous systems, while ensuring governance keeps pace with real-time deployment. It could even require introducing targeted AI initiatives for seniors and rethinking how we teach and learn from an early age,
“At the same time, sovereign AI will be critical to safeguard national interests and reinforcing citizen and enterprise trust in AI. For Singapore, the opportunity is to set the benchmark for trusted, responsible AI at scale,” he added.
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