Poll Shows Overwhelming Concern About Risks From AI as New Institute Launches to Understand Public Opinion and Advocate for Responsible AI Policies

A majority of voters don’t trust tech executives to self-regulate their use of AI, 83% of voters believe AI could accidentally cause a catastrophic event, 72% want to slow down AI development and usage, a new survey shows. American views on AI measures to be released on Friday, August 11, 2023. A new poll from the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI) shows that the vast majority of voters of all political affiliations are concerned about the risks from artificial intelligence and support federal regulation of it. The survey—commissioned by AIPI and conducted by YouGov—demonstrates that policymakers need to act to legislate on AI risks if they don’t want to be behind the curve or out of touch with Americans. Among the findings:

• 72% of voters prefer slowing down the development of AI compared to just 8% who prefer speeding development up;
• 62% of voters are primarily concerned about artificial intelligence while just 21% are primarily excited about it;
• 86% of voters believe AI could accidentally cause a catastrophic event, and 70% agree that mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other risks like pandemics and nuclear war;
• 82% of voters don’t trust tech executives to regulate AI, while voters support a federal agency regulating AI by a more than 3:1 margin, including 2:1 among Republicans;
• 76% of voters believe artificial intelligence could eventually pose a threat to the existence of the human race, including 75% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans.