A new YouGov survey explores how Americans feel about technology’s impact on their own lives, society, and humanity overall.

41% of Americans are very (14%) or somewhat (26%) concerned that a technology will cause the end of the human race on Earth; about as many (45%) are not very concerned (26%) or not at all concerned (19%). Among people who have ever worked in the technology industry, 43% are concerned about technology causing the end of the human race on Earth and 51% are not.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be concerned about tech ending humanity on Earth (46% vs. 37%).

Vast majorities of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about the effects of technology on misinformation (84%), personal privacy (83%), government surveillance (76%), children’s development (79%), radicalization and extremism (75%), and political polarization (74%).

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be concerned about technology’s effect on the environment (75% vs. 39%), economic inequality (70% vs. 44%), and discrimination (70% vs. 44%). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to be concerned about technology’s effect on moral values (75% vs. 63%).

Among people who have ever worked in tech, the largest shares are very or somewhat concerned about the effects of technology on misinformation (86%), personal privacy (80%), and government surveillance (71%). People with experience working in the technology industry are less likely than people who haven’t to say they’re concerned about technology’s impact on attention span (64% vs. 72%) and physical health (52% vs. 59%).

Will any technology become more intelligent than people? 19% of Americans say this has already happened. Nearly half (46%) say it’s likely this will happen eventually, twice as many as say this is not very or not at all likely (23%). Among people who have ever worked in tech, 20% say a technology is already more intelligent than people and 54% think it’s likely this will happen eventually.

Nearly all Americans (90%) trust themselves a great deal or somewhat to use technology responsibly. Majorities also at least somewhat trust the following for responsible tech use: health care providers (74%), banks (67%), schools (66%), the military (58%), and individual people (57%). Americans are least likely to say they trust politicians (22%) and foreign governments (28%) to use technology responsibly, of the 14 options provided on the survey.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they at least somewhat trust news organizations (64% vs. 36%) and schools (77% vs. 59%) to use technology responsibly. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to at least somewhat trust the military (77% vs. 47%), law enforcement agencies (71% vs. 45%), and the U.S. government (50% vs. 29%) to use technology responsibly.

The majority (62%) of Americans say the effects of technology on their own life have been very positive (21%) or somewhat positive (41%). One-quarter (25%) say the effects have been neither positive nor negative; 11% say they have been very or somewhat negative.

Vast majorities of Americans say technology has had a positive impact on their general knowledge (77%) and awareness of current events (75%). Fewer say it’s had a positive impact on their productivity (50%), leisure experiences (46%), and creativity (46%).

The aspects of their lives that Americans are least likely to say have been positively impacted by technology, among 16 asked about, are their sleep habits (14%) and attention span (21%).

Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to say technology has had a negative impact on their sleep habits (52% vs. 38%), attention span (49% vs. 35%), and self-esteem (30% vs. 16%).

Majorities of Americans say that computers (72%), the internet (72%), smartphones (66%), and television (55%) have had positive effects on their own life. Smaller shares say social media (35%) and artificial intelligence (30%) have had positive effects on their own life; 30% say social media has had a negative impact on their life and 26% say the same about AI.

Majorities say computers (77%), the internet (65%), smartphones (61%), and television (56%) have had positive impacts on society. 29% say AI has had a positive effect on society; 26% say this about social media. Larger shares say the effects on society have been negative from AI (43%) and social media (53%).

Related:

See the results for this YouGov survey

— Carl Bialik contributed to this article

Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on February 18 - March 1, 2026 among 2,177 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3 percentage points.

Image: Getty (FOTOKITA)

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