Over Half of Thai Smartphone Users Expected to Adopt AI Agents by 2030, Ericsson Reports

Brickinfo News Agency – More than 50 percent of smartphone users in Thailand are projected to use agentic AI by 2030, according to findings published in the Ericsson ConsumerLab report titled "An agentic life – How consumer AI usage is shaping future network needs."

The study reveals that Thai adoption of autonomous and multimodal artificial intelligence will outpace global averages. While only 5 percent of Thai smartphone users utilize agentic AI today, adoption is forecast to reach 52 percent by 2030, exceeding the global projection of 40 percent. Overall daily AI adoption in Thailand is also anticipated to grow from 52 percent to 67 percent over the same period, while daily use of multimodal AI—which processes combinations of text, image, video, and audio—is expected to increase from 15 percent to 41 percent, compared to a 30 percent global benchmark.

The shift toward AI agents that execute tasks autonomously, such as scheduling or booking reservations, will drive higher network demands. In Thailand, users expect these systems to save an average of 1.3 hours of daily screen time, above the global average of one hour. This transition from simple transactional prompts to continuous background workflows requires enhanced uplink capacity, lower latency, and continuous data security.

Anders Rian, Head of Ericsson Thailand, stated that AI has become integral to everyday connectivity for Thai consumers. He noted that as users transmit higher volumes of voice, images, and video to background AI services, operators will rely on 5G Advanced, network slicing, and AI-driven automation to ensure consistent performance and support the country's broader digital economy objectives.

The report also identifies the rapid expansion of "AI super users," who currently comprise 12 percent of the Thai smartphone user base and are projected to reach 34 percent by 2030, surpassing the global projection of 31 percent. Network latency directly dictates user sentiment in this segment; response time is 3.4 times more influential on network satisfaction among Thai AI super users than among general users, compared to 2.5 times globally.

Concerns regarding security and synthetic identities remain significant, with 34 percent of daily AI users in Thailand expressing concern over unauthorized or compromised automated assistants acting on their behalf. Respondents cited telecommunications operators as the most trusted entities to verify the identity and security of automated agents. Additionally, 30 percent of Thai smartphone users anticipate utilizing AI through secondary form factors, such as smart glasses, by 2030, matching global trends and creating greater reliance on continuous multi-device mobile connectivity.