RESEARCH REPORT
Building confidence to close the AI participation gap in the UK
10-MINUTE READ
March 21, 2026
In brief
- For many people, using AI feels intuitive. It helps make everyday tasks quicker and easier. But for the nearly eight million people in the UK who lack digital skills, AI can feel like an insurmountable obstacle.
- In fact, advanced AI should be a bridge, not a barrier, to digital participation. Used well, it can help people overcome many of the barriers that keep them offline—fear of scams, cognitive overload and reliance on more digitally literate friends or family.
- We worked directly with individuals facing digital disadvantages in the UK to support their online journeys. Our research shows that small, people-first interventions can quickly build confidence and eagerness to use these new tools.
- In an AI-everywhere economy, participation matters. For every £1 invested in digital inclusion, £9.50 is returned to the UK economy.
Advanced AI is transforming access to healthcare, education and employment across the UK, yet nearly eight million adults lacking basic digital skills risk being left further behind. As everyday services—from banking to job applications—move online, those without digital confidence encounter AI not as a gateway to opportunity but as a source of confusion and fear.
In partnership with Good Things Foundation and Generation UK, Accenture researched the lived experiences of people who often struggle with digital tasks including elderly groups, those who have faced homelessness, asylum seekers and refugees. We found that despite AI’s potential to simplify digital interactions, systems are often not designed with their capabilities or confidence in mind.
Three common challenges prevent people from accessing digital services:
Fear and distrust: Participants described anxiety about scams and distinguishing genuine prompts from fraud.
Cognitive overload: Many felt overwhelmed and fatigued navigating cluttered, complex interfaces.
Dependence: Others with lower English fluency, visual impairments or limited focus often depended on others—sometimes at the cost of their privacy and dignity.
Participation is the point
People who gain digital confidence often see immediate benefits. Many say it helps them manage their health more easily and has improved their employment prospects. Plus, they save around £1,100 more each year.i
Companies and public service organisations also make gains. When more people cross the digital divide, companies can reach new talent and customers, services become easier and less costly to deliver, and organisations can more effectively serve customers and communities.
Datapoint: For every £1 invested in digital inclusion, an estimated £9.50 is returned to the UK economy.
Small interventions, big gains
As part of Accenture’s ongoing Regenerative AI programme, we delivered a series of in-person pilot programmes to support people as they sought essential information, shopped, managed personal finances or looked for work online. In safe practice environments, we provided guidance on using a variety of AI-powered tools and offered in-person support to complete the tasks.
The study revealed that small, human-centred interventions unlock disproportionate gains in confidence and independence. Participants left the sessions understanding how to use AI for their benefit and eager to use AI tools again.
The opportunity before us is not only to make AI more powerful, but to make it more human—a technology that adapts to people rather than expecting people to adapt to it. We know AI can be inclusive, we just need to make it so.
People trust AI when they trust who’s behind it
People trust AI when they trust who’s behind it: Trust in AI is less about the technology, and more about the organisation delivering it. People are far more open to using AI for sensitive or high-stakes tasks when it sits within familiar, responsible institutions such as banks, employers or public services.
- Build trust into AI from the start, setting clear boundaries and deciding where processes can be efficiently automated and where human review is mandatory.
- Design for clarity and control, with simple guidance, clear choices and easy ways to pause or go back.
- Be upfront about what is AI and what is human, especially in sensitive moments, and always offer a route to human support.
- Make accountability visible at the point of use, so people know who is responsible and how decisions are made.
Safe experimentation builds confidence
Confidence in AI is built through use, not theory. Short, supported sessions can reduce fear, build familiarity and help people feel more capable using AI for everyday tasks such as a job search.
- Create safe spaces for practice, so people can try AI tools, make mistakes and build confidence without pressure.
- Meet people where they are, offering support in familiar settings through trusted community partners and frontline services.
- Design for early wins, with simple tasks, clear guidance and easy ways to recover from mistakes.
- Provide human support at key moments, so people can get help when they need it.
Autonomy is the outcome that matters
Inclusion only matters if it helps people act independently. When digital services reduce friction, people gain confidence, dignity and more control over everyday tasks.
- Design for all people, building journeys that work across different needs, contexts and constraints.
- Simplify digital journeys before adding AI, removing unnecessary steps and complexity.
- Fix friction points, using AI to guide people through moments where they are most likely to struggle or drop off.
- Keep language simple and accessible, with translation and reader-friendly options built in as standard.
- Make high-risk moments easier to navigate, breaking them into clear steps with extra support where confidence may dip.
Use AI to reduce complexity and reinforce responsibility
AI can make digital experiences simpler, but only when it is built into journeys that are already clear and simple. Inclusive design is what makes AI feel genuinely useful.
- Make responsible design the default, rewarding teams for reducing effort and cognitive load, not just improving efficiency.
- Measure responsibility where it matters, tracking whether people can complete tasks independently, recover from errors and feel confident doing so.
- Build inclusion into the feedback loop, testing with less digitally confident users and using their input to improve journeys.
- Create shared ownership for responsible AI, with clear accountability across design, product and engineering teams.
Accenture’s Regenerative AI Programme
Regenerative AI is Accenture’s three-year flagship programme to empower one million+ people in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities to become part of the digital world and to build their digital and AI skills
We work with partners including Generation UK, Good Things Foundation, Stay Nimble and Tech She Can to help people and communities thrive in the digital age.