Americans are losing faith in AI: only 16% see a positive future, while 40% expect negative consequences.
Public opinion in the United States regarding artificial intelligence continues to deteriorate rapidly. According to fresh data from a large-scale survey, only 16% of Americans expect AI to benefit society. At the same time, nearly 40% of respondents are sharply pessimistic and predict a negative impact of the technology on social processes. These figures reflect a deep crisis of trust, which is becoming one of the main topics in discussions about the future of technology.
A particularly alarming signal is the distrust of institutions tasked with overseeing AI development. 67% of respondents are confident that U.S. authorities will not be able to establish effective regulation in this area. Another 59% do not trust the development companies themselves. Nearly two-thirds of respondents believe that the pace of AI development is too fast, which causes them concern.
Interestingly, the greatest skepticism is shown by young Democratic voters under the age of 30. Among them, only 14% believe in the positive impact of AI on society. This suggests that even a traditionally progressive audience, which usually supports technological innovation, is beginning to doubt its safety.
However, the paradox is that against the backdrop of growing distrust, the daily use of AI tools has sharply increased. About a quarter of Americans reported using chatbots daily. ChatGPT remains the absolute leader—44% of adult U.S. residents use it, more than double the figures from 2023. It is followed by Gemini (24%), Copilot (17%), and Meta AI (14%).
Data from other sociological services confirm this trend. In May 2025, a YouGov study showed that 71% of Americans consider AI development too fast, and the number of pessimists (51%) was double that of optimists (25%). For comparison, in January 2025, the ratio was nearly equal—35% positive versus 34% negative. Over the course of a few months, sentiments have changed dramatically.
My expert analysis: We are witnessing a classic case of a technological gap between perception and reality. The market and businesses are actively implementing AI, but society is not keeping up with the pace of these changes. If regulators do not take decisive steps to create transparent rules of the game, distrust could escalate into mass resistance, which would slow down the development of the entire industry. Investors and developers should take this shift in public sentiment into account.