Survey: 58% of Americans are Worried About GPT Models Introducing Security Vulnerabilities in Web Applications

HostingAdvice survey also found that 62% of Americans surveyed think custom GPT models could replace human roles in web development.

At the start of 2024, OpenAI launched the GPT Store to offer designers and programmers tools to help them develop web applications. A new study from HostingAdvice, the online authority on web hosting and developer applications, found that nearly one-fifth of Americans (18%) surveyed design, market, or work with websites and/or mobile applications. The experts at HostingAdvice wanted to find out how Americans feel about leveraging AI to build web applications, who is using AI tools, and what their concerns are regarding the ethics of using AI.

While many people will certainly have concerns for AI ethics, as well as the security of products developed with AI, the future is bright for tools that make our jobs easier and more productive.”

— Christina Lewis, Online Editor at HostingAdvice

62% of Americans Think Custom GPT Models May Replace Some Human Roles in Development

The survey reveals that most Americans (52%) surveyed are concerned about the ethical implications of using AI in web development. In fact, nearly 6 in 10 Americans (58%) are worried about the potential for GPT models to introduce security vulnerabilities in web applications. And more than 6 in 10 Americans (62%) think custom GPT models have the potential to replace some human roles in web development.

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That said, many web developers are already on board and using AI tools. The survey found that more than one-quarter of Americans (26%) surveyed have or plan to visit the new OpenAI GPT store, and 16% have already used a custom GPT model for a web development project or tasks such as coding, wireframing, and page design. Of those, the applications they found most helpful in using a custom GPT assistant are:

• 49% — Automated testing scripts
• 48% — Content generation
• 46% — Language translation services
• 43% — Automated coding assistance
• 32% — Wireframing/design

Additionally, 19% of survey respondents plan to use a custom GPT for web development tasks in the future, and 23% have found custom GPT models more effective than traditional coding methods in certain aspects of web development.

The survey also discovered that one-quarter of Americans surveyed use AI/GPT writing tools such as Grammarly to help improve their professional communications, but for those who do not:

• 49% prefer to use other tools
• 27% have privacy concerns
• 24% are not comfortable giving full keyboard access

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“While many people will certainly have concerns for AI ethics, as well as the security of products developed with AI, the future is bright for tools that make our jobs easier and more productive,” said Christina Lewis, Managing Editor for HostingAdvice. “The key will be finding ways to use AI safely and responsibly to improve productivity rather than to replace human roles in web development.”

Methodology: A national online survey of 1,015 U.S. consumers, ages 18 and older, was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of HostingAdvice.com in February of 2024. Survey responses were nationally representative of the U.S. population for age, gender, region, and ethnicity. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.