To AI or Not To AI?

A new Fox News poll shows that American voters maintain healthy skepticism and heightened anxiety about the progress of artificial intelligence. Six in 10 of those surveyed say the use of AI is moving “too quickly,” while only one in three respondents say it is moving at “about the right pace.” In addition, 63% of those polled lack confidence in the federal government’s ability to “properly regulate AI technology.”

These results reinforce data from a 2024 Pew Research survey showing that 58% of those surveyed said the government had “not gone far enough” in regulating artificial intelligence, while just 21% said the government had “gone too far.”

Setting aside questions about government’s role in regulating artificial intelligence, the public remains anxious about how this rapidly developing technology will affect their lives and livelihoods, even as they see its expansion as all but inevitable.

An Ipsos poll released last week showed 63% of American adults agreed with the statement: “Products and services using artificial intelligence make me nervous.” Yet an identical 63% said they “expect to use AI tools more in the future.”

Forty-three percent of Pew respondents said they believed the increased use of AI would “harm them” personally, which was nearly 20 percentage points higher than those who felt they would “benefit” from increased usage of AI. Presumably, the worry here is that AI will shrink the job market. Among those in the Ipsos survey seen as least likely to benefit from AI were “working class people,” “workers,” and “people like me.”

Not surprisingly, age plays a central role in how people view the progress of AI. According to Ipsos, younger voters are significantly more comfortable using AI on a regular basis and feel more excited than anxious about the prospect of AI. Younger Americans also believe AI has already “profoundly changed their daily lives.”

One thing AI has managed not to do – at least not yet – is become a partisan political issue. According to the data, Republicans and Democrats hold largely the same views on the progress and promise of AI, while Independents appear slightly more skeptical.