Digital Inequality in ChatGPT Awareness and Knowledge

Differences in awareness and understanding of AI tools like ChatGPT have the potential to exacerbate digital inequalities, including in the realm of democratic practice. Using a nationally representative survey of 2,505 US adults administered half a year after OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT, this study investigates how sociodemographic factors and digital context relate to both awareness and factual understanding of what ChatGPT is. Findings show that digital inequality is very much at play when it comes to awareness and understanding of this new technological advancement. People with higher education and higher income are more likely to be familiar with and know what ChatGPT is. Additionally, those with more autonomy of internet use and higher general digital skills are also more knowledgeable in this domain. This chapter shows that technological innovations remain unequally accessible to different segments of the population with implications for who may benefit from its use for participation in the democratic process.