AI Trust Statistics New Zealand 2026: Regulation, Risk & Public Confidence

New Zealand is not suffering from an AI awareness problem. It is suffering from a trust-and-capability problem.

Workers are using AI. Businesses are seeing real efficiency gains. But public confidence remains shaky, training is thin, and governance expectations are racing ahead of actual implementation discipline.

Which means the next phase of AI adoption in New Zealand will not be won by whoever shouts loudest about the newest model. It will be won by whoever makes AI feel safe, legible, and useful.

New Zealand AI trust statistics: the headline numbers

• 81% of New Zealanders believe AI regulation is required. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• 89% want laws and action to combat AI-generated misinformation. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• Only 23% believe current safeguards are sufficient to make AI use safe. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• Only 44% believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• Only 24% of New Zealanders have undertaken AI-related training or education. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• Only 36% believe they have the skills to use AI appropriately. (KPMG NZ, 2025)
• 97% of workers have heard of AI, but only 34% can clearly explain what it is. (MBIE citing Verian, 2024)
• 91% of AI-using businesses report efficiency improvements. (AI Forum NZ, 2025)
• 77% report reduced operating costs. (AI Forum NZ, 2025)
• 50% report positive financial impacts. (AI Forum NZ, 2025)
• 63% of businesses want to hire people with AI skills. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• 70% are struggling to find the right talent. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• 79% are unsure how to train workers to use AI productively. (RNZ / Access Partnership / AWS, 2024)
• Generative AI could add $76 billion a year to New Zealand’s economy by 2038 if trust, policy, and skills improve. (Microsoft NZ, 2024)

1. The clearest AI trust number in New Zealand is 81%

KPMG’s 2025 New Zealand findings are blunt: the public wants guardrails.

• 81% believe AI regulation is required.
• 89% want laws and action to combat AI-generated misinformation.
• Only 23% believe current safeguards are sufficient.

That is not anti-technology sentiment so much as a demand for competence. New Zealanders are not saying “stop AI.” They are saying “show me that the adults are in the room.”

2. Confidence is still weaker than adoption

AI use is moving ahead, but emotional buy-in is lagging.

• Only 44% of New Zealanders believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks.
• New Zealand trails the global average in reported benefit realisation: 54% versus 73% globally.
• AI Forum NZ likewise notes trust and literacy challenges remain even as adoption broadens.

This is the awkward middle stage of adoption. People can see that AI is powerful, but they do not yet trust the systems, institutions, or norms around it.

3. The literacy gap is doing real damage

The most revealing numbers are often the least glamorous. MBIE and KPMG together paint a rather uncomfortable picture.

• 97% of workers have heard of AI, but only 34% can clearly explain what it is.
• Only 24% of New Zealanders have undertaken AI-related training or education.
• Only 36% believe they have the skills to use AI appropriately.

That gap matters because low literacy creates two opposite problems at once: overconfidence in shallow users, and hesitation in sensible users who do not want to break things or look foolish.

4. Businesses are getting value anyway

This is the part that makes the trust conversation interesting rather than merely gloomy. AI is not failing in New Zealand. It is already producing measurable business value.

• 91% of businesses using AI report efficiency improvements.
• 77% report reduced operating costs.
• 50% report positive financial impacts.
• 75% now report AI setup costs under $5,000.

So the country is in a funny position: plenty of evidence that AI works, alongside plenty of evidence that people do not yet trust the surrounding environment. That makes implementation quality the real differentiator.

5. Capability shortages are now trust shortages in disguise

A lot of organisations talk about trust as if it lives in policy documents. In practice, trust often collapses because the people using the tools are under-trained and unsupported.

• 63% of businesses want to hire people with AI skills.
• 70% struggle to find the right talent.
• 79% are unsure how to train workers to use AI productively.
• 90% expect businesses and staff to be using generative AI tools within five years.

That is the makings of a trust bottleneck. If organisations cannot train people properly, they get sloppy use, inconsistent outputs, privacy anxiety, and brittle governance theatre instead of reliable practice.

6. The economic upside depends on trust, not just tooling

Microsoft’s New Zealand analysis is worth including because it frames the upside and the condition attached to it.

• Generative AI could add $76 billion a year to the economy by 2038.
• In a stronger scenario, the upside rises to $102 billion.
• 24% of tasks could be augmented and 14% automated.
• Workers could save 275 hours per year on average.
• But Microsoft explicitly ties those gains to better skills, trust, policy, and enterprise readiness.

In other words: trust is not just a moral add-on. It is part of the economic operating system.

7. What these New Zealand AI trust statistics really say

Put the public numbers together and the pattern is fairly clear:

• New Zealanders want AI, but not as a free-for-all.
• Business value is arriving faster than public confidence.
• Awareness is high, but understanding is thin.
• Skills and governance are now joined problems.
• The winners will be the teams that make AI useful and trustworthy at the same time.

That has a practical implication for leaders: do not treat trust as a PR layer you bolt on after rollout. Build it into the workflow.

1. Train people on real tasks, not abstract policy slides.
2. Set clear review rules for sensitive outputs.
3. Choose workflows that improve privacy and accountability rather than eroding them.

That is how AI stops feeling risky and starts feeling dependable.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Every statistic on this page is grounded in a public source so you can inspect the original reporting yourself.

• KPMG NZ — Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence
• MBIE — Addressing barriers to AI uptake in New Zealand
• AI Forum NZ — AI in Action: Key Findings from New Zealand’s Third AI Productivity Report
• RNZ — AI skills linked to higher salary, productivity, new jobs - report
• Microsoft NZ — Generative AI expected to more than double New Zealand’s productivity

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