61% of Americans Think AI can Put Our Future at Risk

In a Reuters and Ipsos poll published on Wednesday, 61% of respondents believe that AI poses risks to humanity. 22% disagreed and 17% remained unsure. Additionally, the poll found that:

• 70% of Trump voters (2020) and 60% of Biden voters agreed that AI could threaten humankind.
• 32% of Evangelical Christians strongly agreed to AI risk vs. 24% of non-Evangelical Christians.

The poll was made up of 4,415 US adults and was conducted between May 9 and May 15.

Read the report here.

With companies bringing increasingly more advanced and capable AI models and tools to the public, the unprecedently and largely unchecked growth of AI, in general, has certainly created strong opinions in people’s minds. Over two-thirds of Americans being concerned about the potential negative effects of AI aligns with recent developments in AI safety, including US President Joe Biden’s talk with big tech companies to commit to safety standards.

The concerns are very legitimate, but I think what’s missing in the dialogue in general is why are we doing this in the first place? AI will raise peoples’ quality of life, and help people be more competent and more efficient. Americans may not realize how pervasive AI already is in their daily lives, both at home and at work.

Sebastian Thrun, Stanford (Google X founder)

It’s telling such a broad swath of Americans worry about the negative effects of AI. We view the current moment similar to the beginning of the nuclear era, and we have the benefit of public perception that is consistent with the need to take action.

Landon Klein, Director, US Policy of the Future of Life Institute

Notably, living without AI isn’t possible and we have had AI in our life since the early stage of computers. The current fear or concerns are mostly about recent AI tools and the role they can play in spreading disinformation, replacing humans in certain jobs, and potentially wiping out the entire human race if or when they are out of control.