Google searches for “AI” significantly surpass those for Bitcoin and crypto in 2023, reflecting a shift in public interest.
Google searches for “AI” have overwhelmingly surpassed those for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency throughout 2023. This trend marks a significant change in public interest, showcasing the rising curiosity and engagement with artificial intelligence, particularly following the November 2022 launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The Rise of AI Interest on Google
Since its introduction, ChatGPT has catalyzed an upsurge in AI-related searches on Google, leading to a remarkable spike in November 2022. This surge in interest has consistently outpaced searches for both “Bitcoin” and “crypto.” Historically, since 2020, Bitcoin and occasionally “crypto” searches had dominated over AI. This pattern shifted around August 2022, with AI gaining a more significant foothold in search trends.
Google Trends, a tool that gauges the popularity of search queries, currently assigns a score of 91 to “AI,” dwarfing Bitcoin’s score of 22. These scores are indicative of the relative frequency of these terms in Google searches, scaled from 0 to 100.
Bitcoin’s Journey and AI’s Banner Year
While Bitcoin experienced a downturn, grappling with the aftermath of a bear market extending from the latter half of 2021 into 2022, it has shown signs of recovery in 2023. Starting the year at a modest $16,900, far from its all-time high of $68,729 in November 2021, Bitcoin has since made a significant rebound, approximately gaining 150% to hit around $43,400, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin’s search popularity peaked in countries like El Salvador, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Switzerland. Contrastingly, AI’s breakthroughs in 2023 have garnered considerable attention, ranging from concerns over job displacement to the emergence of advanced AI-driven services and chatbots. This includes innovations like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Meta AI, and Elon Musk’s GrokAI.
Global Interest and Future Trends
Google Trends data reveal a strong interest in AI in nations like Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Myanmar. These trends highlight the global reach and impact of AI technologies and their growing importance in the digital landscape.
A notable observation from a Crypto X (previously known as Twitter) user, Autism Capital, pointed out this trend in a December post, emphasizing the novelty of AI as a factor in its rising search popularity. Compared to Bitcoin and crypto, which have been subjects of public interest for longer, AI represents a fresher area of exploration and discovery for many.
In the job market, AI has also seen a surge in interest. Analysis from CoinGecko shows a significant increase in searches for “AI jobs” since the launch of ChatGPT, outnumbering searches for “crypto jobs” by a considerable margin. This shift indicates a broader change in career preferences and the tech industry’s focus.