More US residents are using AI, but they are increasingly worried and in some instances pessimistic about it – including the tech-savvy Gen Z, a poll suggests.
The analysis released on Monday by Quinnipiac University indicated that Gen Z, in this case those born between 1997 and 2008, expressed concern about AI and its potential to disrupt job opportunities. Seventy-eight per cent were either very concerned or somewhat concerned.
Across the board, there was little optimism about AI among most of those polled by Quinnipiac.
"Eighty per cent are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about AI, while 18 per cent are either not so concerned or not concerned at all," the polling firm said in a statement.
Chetan Jaiswal, associate chairman of Quinnipiac University's school of computing and engineering, said: "Fifty-one per cent say they use AI for research, and many also use it for writing, work and data analysis, but only 21 per cent trust AI-generated information most or almost all of the time.
"Americans are clearly adopting AI, but they are doing so with deep hesitation, not deep trust."
The Quinnipiac poll is the latest in a series of surveys that show an increasingly pessimistic outlook about AI among US residents.
Late last year, consultancy firm KPMG, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, found that AI trust and acceptance in the US trailed behind countries such as the UAE.
The most recent findings from Quinnipiac come days after US President Donald Trump released an AI policy for members of the US House of Representatives and Senate, as the White House seeks to shape the future of AI.
Throughout the campaign trail and since taking office for his second term, Mr Trump has said that he hoped to take a less regulatory stance and allow US technology companies more freedom amid a tech race with China for AI dominance.
But that push has raised concerns from Democrats and Republicans whose constituencies are increasingly concerned about the effect of AI on employment, and a surge in electricity bills from the proliferation of data centres.
In the final pages of Mr Trump's national AI policy framework, local and state efforts to regulate the technology are hampered.
"States should not be permitted to regulate AI development, because it is an inherently interstate phenomenon with key foreign policy and national security implications," the framework proposal reads.
"Congress should pre-empt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations."
Michael Kleinman, head of US policy for the Future of Life Institute, said the AI framework's stance towards state and local regulations cannot work.
"What's concerning about this is states are really in the forefront in recognising the threat that AI poses to our kids, to our jobs, to our communities," Mr Kleinman said.
The Future of Life Institute, a non-profit group that claims to it promote the idea of steering “transformative technology towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks”, has been critical of Mr Trump's less regulatory approach to AI.
In February, Future of Life announced an $8 million advertising campaign aiming to restrict the growing power of tech companies regarding AI policy.
Meanwhile, on the first page of the White House AI framework proposal, the protection of children is highlighted.
"AI services and platforms must take measures to protect children, while empowering parents to control their children’s digital environment and upbringing," it reads.
Mr Kleinman, however, was sceptical: "Not only do I think it's superficial, but I think it's hypocritical." He was referring to the White House's push to dismantle state laws that seek to protect children amid a proliferation of AI apps.
There is no guarantee as to how much, if any, of the White House's AI framework will be codified into law.
A bigger issue for Washington could be that the war in Iran seems to have used up much of the Trump administration's political capital.
So far, those who have come out with full support of the framework have been people and organisations who have shown no sign of straying from much of Mr Trump's agenda.
Neil Chilson was chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission during the first Trump administration and is now head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, a non-profit organisation that supports a less regulatory approach to emerging technology
"The President’s framework charts a path to make AI safe without punishing innovators," Mr Chilson said, calling the White House approach optimistic and hopeful.
"That optimistic path forward, though, requires Congress to act before fear-based laws stop startups and poison the popular perception of AI, and the opportune moment is here."
