AI Adoption Challenges: Privacy, Security, and Job Fears

Singapore, 11 April 2025 – Despite strong enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) across Asia Pacific (APAC), consumers remain cautious about the technology’s broader implications, particularly around privacy, security, and job displacement. This is according to a new report from F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), The 2025 AI Paradox: Understanding Consumer Perceptions in APAC, which sheds light on the conflicting attitudes shaping AI adoption across nine regional markets

The research uncovers five distinct paradoxes that highlight the duality of consumer sentiment around AI in APAC:

• Empowerment vs. Control: While consumers are excited about AI’s capabilities, they are also seeking greater transparency and governance to retain control over their data and digital experiences.
  
• Tech Savviness vs. Skepticism: Even in highly digitalised environments, doubts persist around AI’s accuracy, fairness, and ethical boundaries.
  
• Efficiency vs. Employment Fears: Although AI is seen as a tool for boosting efficiency, anxiety over its potential to replace human jobs continues to grow.
  
• Innovation vs. Sustainability: Consumers value AI innovation, but are increasingly concerned about its environmental impact.
  
• Progress vs. Accountability: People want to see AI rolled out responsibly, with security, fairness, and ethics at the forefront.

“This research highlights a clear gap in trust when it comes to AI adoption in APAC. Consumers recognize AI’s benefits but remain cautious about security risks, ethical use, and its long-term impact on jobs and society. Organizations must proactively address these concerns by embedding transparency, governance, and security into every AI-driven experience. Without trust, AI adoption will stall, limiting its potential to drive innovation and efficiency,” said Mohan Veloo, CTO for APCJ at F5.

AI Gaps Between Personal and Professional Use

While consumers report notable productivity improvements from AI in their personal lives, the same impact has not been observed in the workplace. The report notes that although 73% of respondents benefit from AI outside of work, 52% say workplace productivity remains unchanged. Interestingly, daily AI users report the highest productivity boosts (46.2%), indicating that consistent usage may be key to unlocking value.

Veloo added, “For AI to deliver real business value, organizations must ensure it is seamlessly integrated into their digital infrastructure while maintaining security and performance at scale. At F5, we help businesses deploy AI-powered applications securely, protect against AI-driven threats like deepfake fraud, and ensure AI solutions run reliably across multi-cloud environments. By addressing these security and scalability challenges, we empower enterprises to fully harness AI’s potential without compromising trust.”

Security and Fraud on the Rise in APAC

The report highlights an urgent need for stronger security frameworks, as the region sees surging incidents of AI-powered fraud. In 2024, deepfake scams rose by 194%, while identity fraud climbed by 121% across APAC. Countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia recorded over 200% spikes in fraud incidents. These figures underscore the pressure on businesses to prioritise AI risk mitigation to safeguard consumer trust.

Job Displacement Worries Vary by Market

Apprehension about AI-driven job losses is another key factor slowing adoption. The study reveals contrasting attitudes across APAC: in India and Singapore, 97% of respondents are concerned about being replaced by automation, while Japanese consumers express relatively lower anxiety—only 57% are slightly concerned and 30% not concerned at all.

Blending AI Efficiency with Human Empathy

While AI is valued for transactional tasks such as customer service (47.9%) and personal shopping (45.6%), APAC consumers still prefer humans for emotionally nuanced interactions. Sectors like food preparation (32.2%) and emotional support (26.6%) remain reliant on human qualities such as empathy and intuition. Meanwhile, AI continues to gain ground in data-driven industries like healthcare (40.1%) and finance (39.2%).

Sustainability Concerns Over AI’s Energy Demands

AI’s rapid proliferation is driving increased data centre usage. By 2028, APAC’s data centre capacity is expected to more than double. As a result, over half of respondents (53.8%) believe that sustainable AI deployment must become a priority, calling for greener data infrastructure and energy-efficient AI models.

“Consumers want the best of both worlds. They embrace AI for its efficiency and speed in transactional interactions, but still value human touch for emotional connections and complex decisions,” said Manoj Menon, Founder and CEO at Twimbit. “Organizations that succeed in the AI era will be those that strategically blend AI capabilities with human expertise—creating experiences that are both efficient and empathetic. By addressing security concerns, building transparent AI systems, and finding the right balance between automation and human connection, businesses can build the trust necessary to fully realise AI’s transformative potential across APAC.”

The research was conducted by Twimbit on behalf of F5 and surveyed 900 consumers across nine APAC markets: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Download the full report here