Americans growing anxious as AI adoption expands, Pew Research finds

Americans have grown extra apprehensive about AI within the final 9 months. A brand new survey from the Pew Research Center signifies 52 p.c of respondents are extra involved than enthusiastic about rising synthetic intelligence use, up 14 factors since December. Meanwhile, solely 10 p.c say they’re extra excited than apprehensive, whereas one other 36 p.c described their views as equally balanced. “Concern about AI outweighs excitement across all major demographic groups,” the Pew Research Center wrote in a weblog submit in the present day.

It’s been an eventful 9 months for the reason that Pew Center final surveyed folks about AI. OpenAI’s ChatGPT went from a buzzed-about homework dishonest device to a family title, and the company world — together with tech’s most outstanding firms — raced to show who was essentially the most invested in generative AI. Microsoft plugged GPT-4 into Office and Windows, and Google launched its Bard chatbot whereas including AI elements to look. AI writing and generative artwork have made controversial (and broadly coated within the media) entries into journalism, e book writing, tune manufacturing and even some political campaigns.

Although youthful Americans are nonetheless extra involved than excited, their views are typically extra optimistic than their older counterparts. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, 42 p.c are extra involved about “the growing use of AI in daily life,” and 17 p.c are extra excited. But amongst adults 65 and up, 61 p.c say they’re primarily involved, whereas pleasure solely outweighs concern for a mere 4 p.c.

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Pew Research additionally polled respondents on consciousness of AI, and it seems the extra folks have heard about its rising adoption, the extra uneasy they really feel. The polling stories that about 90 p.c of adults have heard rather a lot (33 p.c) or somewhat (56 p.c) about synthetic intelligence, with the “a lot” group growing by seven factors since December. Those who’ve heard a lot about AI usually tend to be apprehensive than in December: Anxiety outweighs enthusiasm (47 p.c to fifteen p.c) amongst that demographic, in comparison with 31 p.c involved to 23 p.c excited final 12 months. Even those that have solely heard somewhat about it describe a extra adverse view than respondents within the December ballot — by 19 factors.

When breaking down AI’s impression into classes, outcomes are extra combined. On one hand, 49 p.c mentioned it helps greater than hurts when discovering services they’re thinking about on-line (in comparison with 15 p.c that say it hurts extra). But 53 p.c answered that it hurts greater than helps in conserving private data non-public, with a mere 10 p.c saying it helps extra in that space. Other areas the place the polled Americans mentioned it helps extra embody firms making protected automobiles, medical doctors offering high quality care and folks caring for their well being. Categories like discovering correct on-line data, offering high quality customer support and police conserving the peace had been nearer to a fair break up between optimistic and adverse.

Respondents with and with out increased schooling answered in a different way. For instance, school graduates had been extra prone to view AI as a optimistic to find services on-line and serving to medical doctors present high quality care (60 p.c optimistic amongst school grads, 44 p.c for these with out a diploma). But folks with “some college or less” had been much less prone to view it as a adverse for safeguarding non-public data (59 p.c amongst college-educated, 50 p.c for these with much less). Overall, these polled with a school schooling had been extra prone to view AI positively.