Hong Kong's AI Divide: 72.7% Adoption Rate vs. Deep Job Anxiety for Junior Staff

A landmark 2026 survey by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Business School has quantified the city's rapid AI adoption — and the growing anxiety that comes with it. The study, titled Workplace New Era: Hong Kong Working Professionals' Perceptions, Readiness, and Future Directions for AI, collected 3,722 valid online responses between March and April 2026, capturing the views of the city's core workforce across finance, IT, engineering, accounting, and healthcare . The results paint a picture of a workforce that has embraced generative AI at more than twice the global rate, yet remains largely untrained and deeply divided by seniority over what that adoption means for their careers.

AI adoption rate: 72.7%, more than double the global average

The headline finding is stark: 72.7% of respondents said they use AI tools at work daily or weekly . This figure is more than double the 31% global average cited from a 2025 KPMG study, a benchmark the HKUST report directly attributes to KPMG's survey . Over 60% of the HKUST respondents were between the ages of 30 and 49, representing the city's core working population .

The 72.7% rate aligns with other recent surveys of Hong Kong. A McKinsey survey from earlier in 2026 also found that more than 90% of Hong Kong AI users engage with the technology daily, with 88% reporting productivity gains .

Most used tools: ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini dominate basic tasks

Among the 3,100+ respondents who reported frequent AI use, 81.66% said they use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini at least weekly . The primary use cases were consistently reported across multiple sources:

• Drafting and editing documents
• Summarising and analysing information
• Generating creative content

The survey also noted that 72% of AI users relied on free, publicly available tools rather than employer-provided subscriptions, and that larger enterprises (1,000+ employees) were significantly more likely to have licensed, enterprise-deployed AI tools (nearly 50%) compared to small businesses (fewer than 49 employees, at 25%) .

The advanced AI gap: only one-quarter use higher-level capabilities

A significant finding of the survey was the shallow depth of AI integration. While basic generative AI use is widespread, more advanced applications remain uncommon. Only about one-quarter of respondents regularly used capabilities such as data analytics, image/video generation, or agentic AI — systems that can execute multi-step tasks with minimal human supervision . This suggests that the majority of professionals are still applying AI as a simple assistant rather than embedding it deeply into their core workflows.

Job security anxiety: a sharp divide by seniority

Perhaps the most consequential finding of the survey relates to how perceptions of job security vary by seniority. Junior employees expressed significantly deeper concern than senior staff about being displaced or having their skills devalued by AI . Nearly half of entry-level workers worried their roles could be replaced, whereas senior managers and executives were substantially less concerned .

At the same time, the survey revealed a critical readiness gap: nearly 60% of all respondents reported receiving no AI-related training from their employers, and over 70% said they wanted to upgrade their AI skills . The HKUST report itself frames this gap as a likely driver of the anxiety felt most acutely by junior staff, who face the highest risk of task automation without the institutional support to adapt .

The broader context

Hong Kong's AI adoption rate, as measured by the HKUST study, is significantly ahead of the global curve. The KPMG benchmark of 31% global average is itself drawn from a period of rapid growth — KPMG's own 2025 global study of 48,000 people across 47 countries found that 58% of employees intentionally use AI at work regularly, with emerging economies reaching 72% . The HKUST survey, conducted a year later in a highly digitised financial hub, suggests Hong Kong's workforce is among the most AI-engaged in the world.

The findings echo a broader tension visible in other KPMG research: while 83% of people globally believe AI will bring a range of benefits, only 46% are willing to trust AI systems, and trust remains a critical challenge . In Hong Kong, the high adoption rate has not yet been matched by broad institutional readiness, leaving the workforce — especially its most junior members — to navigate the transition largely on their own.