Taipei: Nearly 70 percent of people in Taiwan use artificial intelligence (AI) agents at least once a week, according to a survey released Monday by Mastercard Taiwan. The "2026 Survey on Consumer AI Usage Habits in Taiwan" identified ChatGPT and Gemini as the AI tools most commonly used by respondents.
According to Focus Taiwan, the survey revealed that 38 percent of respondents consulted AI when making shopping decisions, while 61 percent expressed willingness to use AI for planning travel itineraries. Furthermore, 57 percent would allow AI agents to automatically search for products based on their preferences and budgets, then complete purchases after receiving user confirmation, to improve shopping efficiency.
AI agents, as described by Google, are software systems that utilize artificial intelligence to perform tasks autonomously on behalf of users, enabling decision-making, learning, and adaptation. Among those respondents who already use AI and are willing to authorize AI-assisted purchases, 65 percent would allow AI agents to compare prices and complete payments for everyday consumer goods. Additionally, 46 percent would authorize AI to book accommodation, and 42 percent for airline tickets.
Eva Chen, general manager of Mastercard Taiwan, noted that the findings suggest "agentic commerce" is "currently ongoing." Younger adults aged 18-30 emerged as the most frequent AI users, with over 40 percent reporting daily use and 27 percent subscribing to AI services. Among those aged 31-40, 20 percent subscribed to paid AI services, and 42 percent had used AI to inform shopping decisions.
For respondents aged 51-65, only 6 percent paid for AI subscriptions, while 26 percent used AI to search for health and medical information. Overall, 18 percent of respondents subscribed to at least one AI service, with nearly half spending less than NT$600 (US$18.48) per month, and over 40 percent paying between NT$601 and NT$1,200.
Chen further stated that more than half of respondents would authorize AI agents to make payment-related decisions only if robust security measures, including biometric authentication, real-time transaction notifications, and encryption to prevent credit card information exposure, were implemented.
The survey was conducted online from June 1 to June 10 among 1,000 adults aged 18-65. Respondents from northern, central, and southern Taiwan were sampled in proportion to the population at a ratio of 5:2:3, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. Some questions excluded respondents who had never used AI.