Americans Have Turned Against AI in Incredible Numbers (Futurism, 6/21/26)

[highplainsdem]

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/americans-turn-against-ai-poll

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In a sweeping new poll conducted by Pew Research, only 16 percent of respondents said they believed AI will have a positive impact on society — a number as dismal as the perception of the tech.

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This varies quite a bit by age. Gen Z adults, ages 18 to 29, were the most wary of AI, with 48 percent believing it’ll be negative for society. Yet they’re also the group that reported using AI the most, at 66 percent.

Interestingly, the 30-49 year olds and the 50-and-up brackets are more closely aligned, at 39 percent and 37 percent respectively viewing it as negative. They‘re using AI less, though the dropoff between their usage is significant: 61 percent of 30-49 year olds said they used AI chatbots, while only 42 percent of 50-64 year olds did. It was less than a quarter for 65 years and older.

What’s driving this gap between perception and usage is unclear. You could argue that some feel compelled to use it, even when recognizing the tech’s shortcomings and the ethical dubiousness of the industry that’s building it. In fact, many are literally forced to use it at work, with bosses often more enthusiastic about the tech than workers are.

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I've seen lots of messages on both Hacker News and AI forums like r/ClaudeAI on Reddit from workers who are unhappy with bosses forcing them to use AI despite it producing shoddy results.

[-misanthroptimist]

1. I block all the AI that I can

If I want bum information, I'll just watch FOX or CBS.

[Sweet Rosie Red]

2. I block it all too!

But I have found that I have to use it for searches or I get garbage!

Remember when all the commercials were yammering about internet connected Refrigerators? Marketing experts could not figure out why the public was reacting with revulsion. I could have told them; wi fi was unreliable and a nightmare to keep connected. It’s not much better now, and you want me to use your hallucinating LLMs to try to run my life? No. Hell, no! I can do it myself without having to figure out how to program a dysfunctional robot. I just don’t have enough years left in my life, and I’m certainly not willing to endanger the years I have left with all the aggravation!

[GenThePerservering]

3. What's interesting about the internet of everything

Is what happens when the manufacturer of one's fridge, washing machine, etc stop issuing updates 🙄 Some manufacturers have a 7 year deprecation date, some only a few years.

But hey - IoT ranked up with The Second Coming when it first came out. Now it owns you.

Kinda like AI.