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Americans are more likely to expect negative than positive effects from artificial intelligence (AI), and are more likely to support than oppose limits on the use of AI tools by the U.S. military, the latest Economist / YouGov poll finds.
Three times as many Americans expect the effects of AI on society to be entirely (14%) or mostly (33%) negative as expect them to be entirely (3%) or mostly (12%) positive (47% vs. 16%). Another 27% expect the effects to be equally positive and negative. (Results are similar for AI's effects on the economy.)
Most people who haven't used AI themselves expect it to have entirely or mostly negative effects on society, including 62% of those who've seen it used but never used it themselves (only 4% of them expect mostly positive effects), and 60% of those who've never used AI and also never seen someone use it (only 2% expect positive effects). Those who have used AI but don't use it regularly are also more likely to be negative (14% expect positive effects and 51% expect negative impacts). Those who use AI regularly are more likely to expect positive effects from AI than negative ones (39% vs. 26%).
Liberals are less likely to expect positive effects from AI than are conservatives.
This month, the AI company Anthropic and the Department of Defense had a public dispute over what the military could use Anthropic's AI tools for. The Pentagon wants the military to be able to use AI tools for any lawful purpose, while Anthropic wants to prevent its tools from being used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans.
Americans are more likely to say that AI companies should be able to restrict how their AI tools are used by the military than that the military should be able to use AI tools any way it wants (44% vs. 25%). Democrats are more likely to support AI companies' restrictive powers (64% vs. 10%) than are Republicans (24% vs. 47%).
Those who expect AI to have entirely or mostly positive effects on society are divided on the question (40% support AI companies restricting their tools, and 45% say the military should be able to use tools however it wants), while those who expect negative effects from AI are more likely to support AI companies (52% vs. 18%).
A majority of Americans say they have used AI tools, including 22% who regularly use AI and 43% who've used it before but don't regularly use it. 17% of Americans have seen AI used but not used it themselves, and 14% have neither used it nor seen anyone else use it.
Most adults under 30 say they've used AI (73%). Older Americans are less likely to have used AI, but 52% of those 65 and older say they've used it. College graduates are more likely than non-college graduates to have used AI (73% vs. 60%).
Liberals are more likely than conservatives to have ever used AI — but less likely to use it often. 71% of those who say they are very liberal have ever used AI, compared to 61% of those who say they are very conservative. But most liberals who have used AI say they don't use it regularly. Only 18% of the very liberal say they regularly use AI, compared to 28% of the very conservative.
Image: Getty (Joe Raedle / Staff)
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