Americans are increasingly concerned about the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. More than two-thirds of Americans are worried about the negative effects of AI, and 61% believe it could threaten civilization. This fear is shared by tech giants such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), as well as lawmakers and AI companies.
The poll found that 61% of respondents believe that AI poses risks to humanity, while only 22% disagreed, and 17% remained unsure. Trump voters expressed higher levels of concern than Biden voters, and Evangelical Christians were more likely to “strongly agree” that AI presents risks to humanity.
Despite the growing concern, crime and the economy rank higher in the list of kitchen table issues. AI experts, however, are keen to emphasize the positive applications of AI, such as revolutionizing drug discovery, and how pervasive AI already is in our daily lives.
The online poll of 4,415 U.S. adults was conducted between May 9 and May 15. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 2 percentage points.