Only 16 percent of Americans think AI will have a positive impact on society, a new study shows

Despite the fact that AI increasingly dominates our economy (it’s hot IPO summer and we’re all just along for the ride), most Americans are not particularly optimistic about the technology’s long term impact on the country, a new study from Pew Research reveals. In fact, although a whole lot of Americans increasingly use AI in their daily lives, most of them have neutral to negative views about it, the research reveals. Only 16 percent of Americans think that AI’s impact on society during the next 20 years will be positive, Pew says, while around 40 percent say that it will have a negative impact. A vast majority of people (67 percent) don’t believe that the U.S. government will do anything to meaningfully regulate AI. A similarly skeptical cohort (59 percent) don’t trust companies to develop it safely. Young people — that is, those people under 30 — are the ones with the most negative feelings about AI. Pew says that only 14 percent of this cohort believe the tech will have a positive impact on society. On top of all this, a vast majority of Americans — nearly two thirds — also think that AI’s development is occurring too quickly. Despite all of the skepticism, a whole lot of Americans also report using AI in their daily lives on an increasingly regular basis. About a quarter of Americans say they use AI chatbots on a daily basis. Those who do are typically using the chatbots for research purposes or for work, Pew says. A vast majority of people using AI are using ChatGPT. …