A recent study from Pew Research shows that despite the fact that artificial intelligence is increasingly dominating our economy (it’s heated IPO summer and we’re all in for a ride), most Americans aren’t particularly hopeful about the technology’s long-term impact on the country.
Research shows that while many Americans are increasingly using artificial intelligence in their daily lives, most of them have neutral or negative views on it.
Only 16% of Americans think the impact of artificial intelligence on society over the next 20 years will be positive, Pew says, while about 40% say it will have a negative impact.
The huge majority of people (67%) don’t believe the U.S. government will do anything to meaningfully regulate artificial intelligence. A similarly skeptical group (59%) does not trust companies to develop them safely.
Juvenile people – people under 30 – have the most negative feelings towards artificial intelligence. Pew says only 14% of this cohort believe technology will have a positive impact on society.
What’s more, the huge majority of Americans – almost two-thirds – also believe that the development of artificial intelligence is happening too brisk.
Despite all the skepticism, many Americans also report increasingly regular employ of artificial intelligence in their daily lives. About a quarter of Americans say they employ AI chatbots every day. Pew says those who do this typically employ chatbots for research or work.
The huge majority of people using AI employ ChatGPT. Pew writes that 44% of U.S. adults now say they employ an OpenAI chatbot, a number that has more than doubled since 2023.
The next most popular chatbot is Gemini (24%), followed by Copilot (17%) and Meta AI (14%), followed by Grok (8%), Claude (6%), and Character.ai (3%).
There is a certain division based on gender. While chatbot employ is growing for both men and women, men are still more likely to employ AI and are more enthusiastic about it, while women are more skeptical, Pew says. Men are more likely to say they employ AI chatbots in their everyday lives (27% vs. 20% for women), and while the same percentage of men and women report using ChatGPT, men are more likely to report using other brands such as Copilot and Grok.
The report also highlights how artificial intelligence is changing the way Americans consume information. Six in 10 respondents told Pew that they regularly read AI-generated online summaries (it’s almost unavoidable at Google). A much smaller number is a report that uses artificial intelligence to obtain information about fitness and diet.
There are still plenty of people – about half of the country – who say they employ artificial intelligence in their everyday lives. People who don’t employ AI tend to be older, while people under 50 are more likely to say they do. Nearly 75% of Americans aged 65 and older say they never employ AI chatbots.
People who do not employ chatbots say they do not, because they are not interested in them, and add that they have no intention of using them in the future.