Almost Three Quarters of Americans Distrust Artificial Intelligence
Who among us can say they are not worried? Concerned citizens
Shocker: people aren’t quite sure they trust artificial intelligence to work in their best interests, according to a new poll.
In a press release, think tank MITER released the results of a new poll, conducted with marketing research firm Harris, that asked people their opinion on AI. Spoiler alert: they hate it!
“Most Americans express reservations about AI for high-value applications such as autonomous vehicles, access to government benefits or health care,” the press release said. “Furthermore, only 48 percent believe AI is safe and secure, and 78 percent are very or somewhat concerned that AI could be used for malicious intent.”
Regulate Me
In the poll, Harris and MITER found that 82 percent of its U.S. respondents support government regulation of AI — and when questions about regulation were posed to tech experts, a whopping 91 percent said they were in favor.
Among the online poll’s 2,050 adult respondents, just under half said they would feel comfortable using AI-assisted technology for routine medical questions or government benefit forms, and three-quarters said they were specifically concerned about deepfakes and AI -generated content entering mainstream media.
While respondents generally seemed suspicious of AI, the press release notes that specific demographics expressed a more favorable opinion than others.
“Men, Democrats, younger generations and Black/Hispanic Americans … are more comfortable than their peers with using AI to process federal government benefits, online doctor bots and autonomous, unmanned ride-sharing vehicles,” explains Rob Jekielek, Harris Poll’s managing director.
Nevertheless, Kekielek said that “concern about AI continues to exist across all demographics” — a finding that suggests even early adopters of AI may be haunted by its future.
Pollster Politics
One of perhaps the biggest caveats of this poll is that, by its own admission, MITER seems to be all in on AI.
“Artificial intelligence technologies and frameworks can radically increase efficiency and productivity in many areas,” Douglas Robbins, vice president of MITER engineering and prototyping, said in the press release. Later in the statement, the organization said it is “collaborating with partners throughout the AI ecosystem to enable responsible pioneering in AI to better impact society.”
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