It may feel like fresh new AI features are front and center in every app these days, but Americans may be unaware of how much the technology is already woven into the services they use every day.
A new Gallup survey found that nearly all Americans—99%—had used a product with AI features in the past week, but fewer than two-thirds of them (64%) reported having used products with integrated AI. Those products include navigation apps, social media feeds, and virtual assistants, and AI is defined as “computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.”
The survey of 4,000 US adults was backed by the nonprofit Telescope Foundation, which claims to advocate for responsible tech progress.
Why the mix-up: While “generative AI” has often been used interchangeably with “AI” in the last couple years, the latter encompasses a whole range of other machine learning-based techniques, from image recognition to predictive analytics. That could lead to public misperception of the true reach of this tech as countries consider regulations and companies market it to consumers.
A dim view: Americans tend to view the effects of AI as potentially harmful. Nearly three-quarters said that in the next half decade, the tech will have a “somewhat” or “very” negative impact on the spread of false information, while 64% said the same for social connections, 60% for job opportunities, and 56% for national security.
Large majorities of Americans also believe that the government should be responsible for reducing these harms (ranging from 96% for national security concerns to 68% for job displacement concerns), with similar numbers among Democrats and Republicans. President Trump recently followed through on a promise to repeal former President Biden’s wide-ranging executive order on these issues, and it’s not yet clear how his administration plans to handle the tech.
The other hand: Not all surveys reflect these same sentiments, however. A recent Google and Ipsos survey found worldwide optimism around AI on the rise from last year, with countries outside the US and Europe in particular tending to view AI’s impact more positively.
Among the top positive use cases these respondents saw as “very important” were “medical breakthroughs,” “better security,” and “climate change solutions.”
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