EXPECTED AI IMPACT
AI Impact Seen as Largely Neutral to Positive by Most Adults Familiar with It
Among US adults who are at least slightly familiar with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, 42% say that it has been mostly good for the world so far, compared to just 14% who say it’s been mostly bad. More than a third said that it’s been neither good nor bad, while 9% didn’t know. Generally, younger generations were more familiar with and held more positive opinions about AI and its uses. Among Gen Z, 52% said that AI had been mostly good for the world so far.
On the whole, has AI been mostly good or mostly bad for the world so far?
When asked what area of life will be most positively impacted by AI, 34% chose scientific/medical discovery, the top choice, followed by reducing mundane work at 22%. Just under 42% of baby boomers picked scientific/medical discovery, compared to 19% of Gen Z, which was most likely to pick reducing mundane work as the way AI will have the greatest positive impact on their lives.
In which area do you believe AI will have the greatest positive impact on your life?
Zooming in on the impact to jobs specifically, 48% of employed respondents believe that it’s very likely or almost certain that AI will lead to significant job losses in the next five to ten years. However, when asked to judge the likelihood of losing their own jobs to AI, just 22% of those who are currently employed believe it’s very likely or almost certain.
How likely do you think it is that AI leads to the following over the next 5-10 years? (Among currently employed respondents)
While 18% believe that AI already surpasses human intelligence, including nearly a quarter of Gen Z and millennial respondents, over a third of all respondents believe that AI will surpass human intelligence in the next ten years. Fully 17% say they don’t expect that to ever happen.
