Roughly two-thirds of Americans believe AI is advancing at too fast a rate — even as a majority of adults are using chatbots, according to a new Pew Research Center study examining U.S. sentiment toward the technology.
The study also found that 40% of respondents believe AI will ultimately be worse for society — but most Americans don’t believe the U.S. government or U.S. businesses can effectively regulate its use. In the Pew report, released Wednesday, 67% of Americans had little to no confidence that the U.S. government could regulate the technology, while 59% had little to no confidence that U.S. companies could responsibly develop the technology. More Democrats than Republicans were skeptical of the government regulating AI.
Taken together, the findings reflect Americans’ growing concern over whether the government or the businesses developing the technology are looking out for their best interests, particularly as tech companies experiment with increasingly sophisticated AI models and the government expands its partnerships with AI platforms.
“AI is no longer the future; for many, it’s here and now,” Pew Research Center associate director of research Jeffrey Gottfried said in a statement. “Americans are increasingly using chatbots and bringing AI into their homes, but they have a complex relationship with AI. They may use it, but they’re still highly skeptical of it and how it will impact our society.”
