Anxiety edging out excitement over our AI-everywhere future: Survey

Americans are somewhat more troubled than thrilled over AI’s mounting presence in modern life. But the collective outlook is a rich blend of both.

So shows a new survey of 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by Vox Media and its subsidiary outlet The Verge. Survey questions aimed at taking consumers’ temperature on thoughts, feelings and fears about AI. The research firm The Circus had a hand in the project. Here are five highlights from the findings.

1. Mixed emotions prevail over AI’s quickening pace of progress.   

• 29% of survey respondents feel anxious about AI, while
• 21% are excited,
• 32% are both, and
• 18% are neither.

On some key specific points, more respondents lean negative than positive. Well upwards of 60% anticipate AI-caused job losses (63%), privacy threats (68%) and misuse by governments and businesses (67%). By comparison, just half look forward to new medical treatments (51%) and economic empowerment (51%).

2. Support for regulation of AI is strong.

• 78% want clear labeling of AI involvement in digital content created with AI.
• 76% believe regulations and laws need to be enacted around AI development.
• 76% feel AI training data should be fact-checked.
• 76% would make it illegal to create video or audio deep fakes without the consent of the person being faked.

The report authors point out that laws and regulations are already in the works in both Europe and the U.S. However, they note, “many principles with wide support would be difficult to enforce.”

3. Who’s afraid of AI with a mind of its own?

• 51% think a sentient AI model is an inevitability; however,
• 64% don’t mind AI developers trying to create one.  

Meanwhile 38% are disquieted by AI’s reputed potential to “wipe out human civilization.” This might explain why people are more anxious than excited about the growth of AI overall, the authors quip.  

4. Among other emerging technologies, AI is setting the pace at shaping expectations of things to come. Some 74% expect AI to play a major role in societal change. Runners-up:  electric vehicles (69%), virtual reality (60%), augmented reality (52%) and non-fungible tokens/blockchain (34%).

5. When it comes to using AI, Millennials and Gen-Zers are blowing away their elders. One complicating factor in understanding these numbers, though, is that “the definition of an AI tool is extremely fuzzy,” the authors comment. “We asked respondents about dedicated AI services like ChatGPT or Midjourney. But many companies are adding AI features to established software.”

More:

“[A]s the joke goes, AI is whatever computers haven’t done yet, meaning yesterday’s AI is, simply, today’s expected features.”

The survey report’s authors are The Verge deputy editor Jacob Kastrenakes and senior reporter James Vincent. Full text and graphics here.