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The American public has some familiarity with AI and cybersecurity, but remains behind the times when it comes to issues like two-factor authentication.
That’s according to a survey, published Aug. 17, from Pew Research of 5,101 US adults. While 87% of respondents, polled in May, could identify the most secure password from a list of four given, only 48% were able to do the same for two-factor authentication.
It’s part of a number of findings from the poll, which asked respondents nine questions on digital literacy, on subjects ranging from Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter to detailing data privacy laws.
By the numbers: While respondents were familiar with Musk’s Twitter acquisition and Facebook’s name change to Meta, with 80% and 77% respectively answering correctly, they were less clear on privacy. Only 24% knew the US doesn’t have a standard privacy law, and only 21% were sure the US doesn’t allow sites to collect children’s personal information.
College graduates scored better on the survey for identifying security issues, pointing to the role played by education in digital literacy. In some cases, the gulf between those with a college education and those with no college was vast: 64% of college graduates were able to identify two-factor authentication versus only 31% of those with no college.
Polling intelligence. Identifying AI also exposed a divide between those with education and those without; 49% of college graduates know how generative AI language models provide answers to questions versus 17% of those with only a high school diploma or less education. And while 57% of college graduates correctly identified a deepfake, only 28% of those with a high school diploma could do the same.
Age also plays a factor. Respondents aged 18-29 have the highest correct response rate—only for one question, on Meta changing its name, do they come in second to those 30-49—while those aged 65+ rank lowest on all questions but one, on data privacy law.