Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) Just over half of Taiwan’s adults have used generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the past six months, according to a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) survey released Thursday.
The survey also found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini account for more than 90 percent of primary use and that nearly 40 percent of users have paid for AI services.
The survey, conducted May 6-28, collected 1,079 valid responses from people aged 18 and older in Taiwan who had used generative AI tools in the previous six months.
The FTC identified three key trends: widespread use of multiple AI platforms, growing adoption of paid subscriptions, and a tendency among users of free services to switch to competing tools when quality declines.
ChatGPT was the most widely used tool, at 87.9 percent of respondents, followed by Gemini at 67.8 percent and Anthropic‘s Claude at 8.9 percent. Respondents could select more than one service.
Asked to identify their primary AI tool, 56.6 percent chose ChatGPT and 34.6 percent Gemini, giving the two platforms a combined share of more than 90 percent.
The most common reasons for using generative AI were learning (56.5 percent) and work-related tasks (55 percent), while 47.2 percent said they chose a platform because its features best met their needs.
The survey found that 39.8 percent of respondents had used paid AI services, with nearly 70 percent of them paying out of pocket. Half of subscribers spent between NT$500 (US$15.36) and NT$1,000 per month, and 76.3 percent said they would keep their subscriptions even if prices rose 10 percent.
Among the 60.2 percent of respondents who used only free AI services, 89.5 percent said they had not paid because the free usage allowance was sufficient.
If the quality of free services declined, such as through lower usage limits or slower response times, 76.7 percent said they would switch to another free AI platform, while only 15.5 percent said they would upgrade to a paid version.
The FTC said it will continue monitoring developments in the rapidly evolving generative AI market, including changes in pricing models and competition.
(By Pan Tzu-yu and Evelyn Kao)
