Measuring the general public artificial intelligence attitudes and literacy: Measurement scales validation by national multistage omnibus survey in Bulgaria

This study examines public attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) and self-perceived AI literacy in Bulgaria, using two validated instruments: the General Attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence Scale (GAAIS) and the Meta AI Literacy Scale (MAILS). Administered within a national multistage omnibus survey (N = 1006), the study represents the first large-scale assessment of AI-related perceptions in an Eastern European context. The research has a dual focus: to test the psychometric performance of both scales in a new linguistic and methodological setting, and to explore how AI attitudes and literacy are distributed across key sociodemographic groups. Both GAAIS and MAILS demonstrate strong internal consistency in the face-to-face survey setting, supporting their applicability beyond online convenience samples. ANOVA and regression analyses reveal that education and age are significant predictors of AI literacy, while positive AI attitudes also vary by gender. In contrast, negative attitudes appear more evenly distributed, reflecting broader societal concerns. The results confirm the conceptual distinction between attitudes and perceived literacy, and demonstrate the benefit of administering the two instruments in parallel. The study offers a multidimensional approach to measuring public AI readiness and contributes a validated framework for future cross-cultural and policy-oriented research.