Almost Three Quarters of Americans Distrust Artificial Intelligence

Who among us can say they're not worried?

Concerned Citizens

Shocker: people aren't quite sure that they trust artificial intelligence to operate in their best interests, per a new poll.

In a press release, the think tank MITRE released the results of a new poll, conducted in tandem with the marketing research firm Harris, that asked people their opinions about AI. Spoiler alert: they lowkey hate it!

"Most Americans express reservations about AI for high-value applications such as autonomous vehicles, accessing government benefits, or healthcare," the press release reads. "Moreover, only 48 percent believe AI is safe and secure, and 78 percent are very or somewhat concerned that AI can be used for malicious intent."

Regulate Me

In the polling, Harris and MITRE found that 82 percent of its American respondents support government regulation of AI — and when questions about regulation were posed to tech experts, a whopping 91 percent said they're for it.

Among the online poll's 2,050 adult respondents, just under half said they would feel comfortable using AI-assisted tech for routine medical questions or government benefit forms, and three-fourths said they're 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 counterparts with the use of AI for federal government benefits processing, online doctor bots, and autonomous, unmanned rideshare vehicles," explained Rob Jekielek, Harris Poll's managing director.

All the same, Kekielek said that "there remains concern about AI across all demographic groups" — a finding that suggests that even early AI adopters might be freaked out by its future.

Pollster Politics

One of perhaps the biggest caveats of this polling is that, per its own admission, MITRE seems to be all-in on AI.

"Artificial intelligence technology and frameworks could radically boost efficiency and productivity in many fields," MITRE engineering and prototyping vice president Douglas Robbins said in the press release. Later in the statement, the organization said that it's "collaborating with partners throughout the AI ecosystem to enable responsible pioneering in AI to better impact society."

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