Americans want AI to stay out of their personal lives

A new study from Pew suggests that Americans aren’t particularly optimistic about AI. A full 50 percent of respondents said they were more concerned than excited about the use of AI in their daily lives. That’s down ever so slightly from 52 percent in 2023, but it’s up significantly from 37 percent in 2021.

Americans expressed a number of concerns about AI, chief among them that it will negatively impact our ability to think creatively and form meaningful relationships with other people. Just 18 percent believed that AI should play any role at all in dating and matchmaking, with just 3 percent being comfortable with it playing a “big role.” The theme in general was that Americans are okay with AI performing analysis on large data to, say, predict the weather, or find cures for disease, but they wanted it to stay out of their personal lives. Two-thirds of people want it to stay out of their love lives entirely, and 73 percent believe it has no place advising people on their religious beliefs.

Another concern was the spread of misinformation. 18 percent of respondents rated misinformation as their number one concern, behind only its negative impact on human abilities and connections. Americans felt that it was very important to be able to identify AI-generated work, but 53 percent said they were not confident in their ability to do so.

Interestingly, in a reversal of what you’d expect with the emergence of new technologies, it’s actually younger Americans who are more concerned. 57 percent of those under 30 said they were extremely concerned that AI would erode people’s abilities, while only 46 percent of those over 65 said the same.

Broadly, though, it’s clear that Americans are taking a skeptical eye towards AI. 61 percent said they wanted more control over how AI is used in their daily lives. Unfortunately, 57 percent believe they have little or no control over that.