This Special Eurobarometer report provides an insight into perceptions of science and technology.
The survey covers the following topics: 🔵 knowledge about science and technology, 🔵 views on the impacts of science and technology, 🔵 views on the governance of science and technology, 🔵attitudes towards scientists, 🔵 citizens’ engagement in science and technology, 🔵diversity, inclusiveness, and social responsibility, and 🔵views on the use of AI for scientific research.
The full report is avaliable here. Summary, country factsheets, infographics are available here.
Key findings
📌Overall influence of science and technology on society
83% of citizens think that the overall influence of science and technology is positive. 67% equally agree that science and technology make our lives easier, healthier and more comfortable. The majority of respondents in the EU agree that science makes our ways of life change too fast (63%) and that the applications of science and technology can threaten human rights (56%).
📌Views about science and technology
Respondents are most likely to think that renewable energies (87%), information and communication technology (79%) and vaccines and combatting infectious diseases (77%) will have a positive effect on our way of life in the next 20 years.
📌Trust and equity in science
Results show that 77% of respondents agree that science and technology should consider the needs of all groups of people when developing new solutions and products, while another 72% think that the government should take responsibility to ensure that new technologies benefit everyone.
📌Attitudes towards scientists
Respondents mostly agree that scientists should intervene in political debate to ensure that decisions take into account scientific evidence (68%), with fewer agreeing with the opposite statement that scientists should not intervene in this way (42%). Half of respondents (50%) agree that we can no longer trust scientists to tell the truth about controversial scientific and technological issues because they depend more and more on money from industry.
📌Sharing results of scientific research
When it comes to sharing scientific results and engaging with the public, 80% agree with the statement that results of publicly funded research should be made available online free of charge.
📌Artificial intelligence
This survey included a focus on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for scientific research, revealing mixed views among citizens in this regard. 38% say they trust scientific research and discoveries created with the help of AI, while a quarter (25%) distrust this type of research.
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The survey was carried out in the 27 EU Member States and eight non-EU countries between 12 September and 10 October 2024. A total of 34,207 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed in their mother tongue. This survey was commissioned by the European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)
