Roughly 70% of Romanians are “very” or “moderately” concerned about how AI accesses and uses their data, according to the latest survey conducted by RoCoach in partnership with Novel Research between May and June 2025.
Distrust in automated decision-making and the demand for regulation are becoming more pronounced, as Romania rolls out major digitalization projects such as the government cloud, while new European-level rules on the responsible use of AI begin to take shape.
Concerns about data privacy cut across all segments of the population, regardless of age, education, or occupation. Even among 18-24-year-olds, considered digital natives, 71% say they are worried about how AI may access and use their personal information. Similarly, more than two-thirds of respondents with higher education share the same concern.
Most Romanians believe that AI should be supervised by humans, particularly when it comes to important decisions. Only 20.2% are in favor of fully autonomous professional assessments made by AI. Nearly 40% would accept AI involvement only if accompanied by human analysis, while 27.2% reject the idea entirely. Additionally, 60.8% of respondents say they would prefer to interact with a real person rather than a chatbot or other automated system when seeking support from a company or public institution.
The reservation towards automated decision-making is driving increased demand for regulation. According to the survey, 62.4% of Romanians believe that the use of AI in sensitive areas, such as education, healthcare, justice, public administration, and the financial sector, should be strictly governed by law.
At the core of this demand lies the principle of human oversight and the safeguarding of fundamental rights.
”The results of the survey clearly show that Romanians are not yet ready to entrust important decisions to artificial intelligence without human oversight. We are dealing with a population that is increasingly aware of digital risks and more attentive to how their personal data is handled,” says Mihai Stănescu, founder of RoCoach, the first coaching company in Romania and developer of the Organizational Transition Quotient (ORQ).
Nevertheless, the survey shows that Romanians do not reject AI as a technology. Only 9.5% of respondents believe it has an exclusively negative impact. Instead, people strongly demand that AI-based systems operate within an ethical, supervised, and regulated framework, where decisions are transparent and individual rights are protected.
”This reaction is not a barrier to development, but a sign of social maturity that must be integrated into any digitalization strategy. If we want AI to become part of everyday life, we must begin by building trust – and that starts with transparency, regulation, and genuine dialogue between decision-makers and citizens”, says Marian Marcu, Managing Partner at Novel Research.
The study was conducted on a sample of 800 urban residents aged between 18 and 64, all professionally active and internet users. Data collection took place between May and June 2025, using the Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing method.
(Photo source: Hakinmhan | Dreamstime.com)
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