Majority of Americans express ‘fear and concern’ about AI, say government should regulate it more: CNN poll

Americans regard the growth and development of AI technology with far more fear and concern than hope and excitement, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with broad partisan agreement that the federal government ought to do more to regulate it.

Those concerns stretch across the realities of AI’s growth today and more speculative possibilities raised by some technologists and whistle-blowers .

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they’re more concerned than excited by the possibility that AI could one day surpass human intelligence, and, more concretely, a similar number lean to concern over excitement about the growing number of data centers being constructed to support AI technology. And about 8 in 10 express negative sentiments about the rapid pace of AI development and about the chance that AI technology may fundamentally change our way of life. Fewer than 20% say they largely feel excitement about each of these possibilities.

Looking closer to home, Americans are more likely to say AI technology has a negative effect on their own finances than a positive one (48% negative vs. 18% positive). This is especially true among Americans who make less than $50K a year, who are 6 points likelier than higher earners to say AI has a negative effect on their finances.

All told, 75% of Americans say their feelings about the growth and development of AI technology are closer to fear and concern than hope and excitement, and 43% feel that way strongly.

About 7 in 10 say the federal government is not doing enough to regulate AI’s development. The survey suggests a bipartisan mandate for the government to act, with 85% of Democrats, 67% of independents and 63% of Republicans saying it has not yet done enough. Those findings speak to the unusual political alliances that have formed around the issue, with progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon among those calling for curbs on AI development.

Within the GOP, an ideological divide emerges: 52% of MAGA-identified Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the government isn’t doing enough so far to regulate AI, compared to 64% of non-MAGA Republicans and Republican-leaners who say the same. President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about AI as a “HOAX” and touted the potential economic gains of the technology.

While concerns about AI generally cut across party lines, negativity about present-day matters related to AI – including its pace of development and the construction of a growing number of data centers – runs notably sharper among Democrats than Republicans. Democrats are 26 points more likely than Republicans to say they’re very concerned about data centers, and 22 points more likely to say they’re very concerned about the pace of AI development.

Most US adults, 63%, say they are following news about the growth and development of AI at least somewhat closely, with a smaller 18% saying they are paying very close attention. With the midterms approaching in November, nearly two-thirds of registered voters say that data centers and AI will be an extremely or very important factor in their vote for Congress, with 36% calling it extremely important – putting the issue far behind topics like the economy, voting and elections, inflation and healthcare. CNN previously reported that more than $31 million has been poured into political ads about data centers this year alone.

Democrats do tend to see it as a deeply important factor more often than Republicans. Almost half of Democratic registered voters, 45%, consider it an extremely important issue, 20 points higher than the share of Republican voters saying the same.

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Will AI really kill everyone? How, exactly?

Alongside the partisan trends in views of AI, there is also a gender gap. Women express higher levels of fear and concern than men about the growth and development of AI generally (83% vs. 67%); are more likely to say the government isn’t doing enough to regulate it (75% vs. 67%); and, among registered voters, are much more likely to see it as a deeply important issue in their vote (70% extremely or very important vs. 58% among men).

While anxiety over AI’s rapid pace defies the generational divide – 81% of adults younger than 45 years old say they’re more concerned than excited, nearly identical to the 83% of those 45 and older who say the same – it does expose an educational split. Half of US adults without college degrees say they are very concerned that AI technology may fundamentally change our way of life, compared with 35% of those with a college degree.

CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy and Edward Wu contributed to this report.

The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS online and by telephone September 16-17 among a random national sample of 1,206 adults. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

根据 SSRS 进行的 CNN 最新民意调查显示，美国人对人工智能技术的增长和发展更多的是恐惧和担忧，而不是希望和兴奋，各党派人士普遍认为联邦政府应该采取更多措施来监管它。

这些担忧既包括人工智能当前发展的现实，也包括一些技术专家和举报人提出的更具推测性的可能性。

近九成美国人表示，他们对人工智能未来可能超越人类智能的可能性感到担忧而非兴奋；更具体地说，同样比例的人对为支持人工智能技术而兴建的数据中心数量不断增长感到担忧而非兴奋。约八成美国人对人工智能的快速发展以及人工智能技术可能从根本上改变我们生活方式的可能性持负面态度。只有不到20%的人表示，他们对上述任何一种可能性都感到兴奋。

从更贴近自身生活的角度来看，美国人更倾向于认为人工智能技术对他们的财务状况产生了负面影响（48%认为有负面影响，18%认为有正面影响）。年收入低于5万美元的美国人尤其如此，他们认为人工智能对其财务状况产生负面影响的可能性比收入更高的人群高出6个百分点。

总的来说，75%的美国人表示，他们对人工智能技术的增长和发展更多的是恐惧和担忧，而不是希望和兴奋，其中43%的人强烈地有这种感觉。

约有七成受访者认为联邦政府在监管人工智能发展方面做得不够。调查显示，两党都强烈要求政府采取行动，85%的民主党人、67%的独立人士和63%的共和党人认为政府做得还不够。这些调查结果反映了围绕这一问题形成的非同寻常的政治联盟，其中包括进步派佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯和前特朗普战略顾问史蒂夫·班农，他们都呼吁限制人工智能的发展。

共和党内部出现了意识形态分歧：52%的“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）支持者和倾向共和党的独立人士认为，政府迄今为止在人工智能监管方面做得不够，而持相同观点的非MAGA支持者和倾向共和党的独立人士中，这一比例高达64%。唐纳德·特朗普总统则将对人工智能的担忧斥为“骗局”，并大肆宣扬这项技术的潜在经济效益。

尽管人们对人工智能的担忧普遍超越党派界限，但对于当前与人工智能相关的问题——包括其发展速度和日益增多的数据中心建设——民主党人的负面情绪明显高于共和党人。民主党人表示非常担忧数据中心的可能性比共和党人高出26个百分点，表示非常担忧人工智能发展速度的可能性也高出22个百分点。

63%的美国成年人表示，他们至少在一定程度上关注人工智能的发展动态，其中18%的人表示非常关注。随着11月中期选举的临近，近三分之二的注册选民表示，数据中心和人工智能将是他们投票选举国会议员时极其重要或非常重要的因素，其中36%的人认为极其重要——这一议题的重要性远远落后于经济、投票和选举、通货膨胀和医疗保健等问题。CNN此前报道称，仅今年一年，就有超过3100万美元投入到与数据中心相关的政治广告中。

民主党人往往比共和党人更倾向于将此视为一个极其重要的因素。近一半的民主党注册选民（45%）认为这是一个极其重要的问题，这一比例比持相同观点的共和党选民高出20个百分点。

Christoph Soeder/picture alliance/Getty Images/文件

人工智能真的会毁灭所有人吗？具体会如何毁灭？

除了对人工智能观点的党派倾向外，还存在性别差异。女性对人工智能的增长和发展普遍比男性表现出更高的恐惧和担忧（83% 对 67%）；她们更倾向于认为政府在监管方面做得不够（75% 对 67%）；而且，在已登记选民中，她们更有可能将人工智能视为投票中一个极其重要的议题（70% 的女性认为极其重要或非常重要，而男性仅为 58%）。

尽管人们对人工智能快速发展的焦虑情绪超越了代际差异——81%的45岁以下成年人表示他们更多的是担忧而非兴奋，这一比例与45岁及以上人群的83%几乎相同——但这确实暴露出教育程度上的差异。在美国，一半没有大学学历的成年人表示，他们非常担心人工智能技术可能会从根本上改变我们的生活方式，而拥有大学学历的成年人中只有35%的人持相同看法。

CNN的Ariel Edwards-Levy和Edward Wu对本报道亦有贡献。

CNN的这项民意调查由SSRS于9月16日至17日通过网络和电话进行，调查对象为随机抽取的1206名成年人。完整样本的抽样误差为正负3.5个百分点。