Americans Want AI’s Benefits But Fear Losing What Makes Them Human: Survey

People are rising more and more uneasy about synthetic intelligence infiltrating their each day lives, with half now saying they’re extra involved than excited in regards to the expertise—a pointy soar from 37% simply 4 years in the past, in accordance with a brand new Pew Analysis Middle survey.

The examine of 5,023 U.S. adults, performed in June 2025 and printed this week, reveals a nation grappling with a basic paradox: Whereas 73% say they’d let AI help with day-to-day duties, 61% concurrently need extra management over the way it’s used of their lives.

Half of U.S. adults say the elevated use of AI in each day life makes them really feel extra involved than excited, in contrast with 10% who’re extra excited than involved.

Nonetheless, People see AI as each inevitable and threatening to core human capabilities. Some 53% of respondents stated AI will worsen individuals’s capability to assume creatively, in contrast with 16% who say it is going to enhance this. Half consider AI will harm individuals’s capability to kind significant relationships, with solely 5% anticipating enchancment in human connections.

“I believe a large portion of humanity is inclined to hunt the trail of least resistance,” one lady taking part within the examine advised the researchers. “As annoying and troublesome as hardships and obstacles might be, I consider the expertise of encountering this stuff and overcoming them is important to forming our character.”

The generational divide reveals that the youthful the technology, the extra publicity to AI they may have of their day-to-day lives. In response to the examine, 62% of these underneath 30 say they’ve heard or learn so much about AI, in contrast with 32% of these ages 65 and older.



But these youthful People, regardless of their better familiarity with the expertise, categorical deeper pessimism about its results. And 61% of adults underneath 30 assume the elevated use of AI in society will make individuals worse at considering creatively, in contrast with 42% of these ages 65 and older.

The American unease mirrors world developments. Stanford’s HAI AI Index Report 2025 confirms that worldwide, ambivalence and fear are rising at the same time as individuals recognize AI’s effectivity positive aspects. The stress is especially acute in developed nations: In 2022, international locations like Nice Britain (38%), Germany (37%), and the US (35%) had been among the many least doubtless globally to view AI as having extra advantages than drawbacks.

Belief emerges as one other crucial fault line. Whereas 76% say it is extraordinarily or crucial to have the ability to inform if photos, movies, or textual content had been made by AI or individuals, greater than half admit they lack confidence of their capability to really make that distinction. This belief deficit extends past content material detection: KPMG’s 2025 International Belief Report discovered that confidence in AI firms has been falling steadily since 2022.

One other fascinating discovering by Pew Analysis is that 57% of People price the dangers of AI for society as excessive or very excessive, whereas solely 1 / 4 appears to be hyped in regards to the expertise.

When requested to clarify their issues, respondents most often cited the erosion of human talents and connections—individuals changing into lazy, dropping crucial considering expertise, or relying too closely on machines for primary duties.

This rising wariness contrasts sharply with AI consultants surveyed by Pew earlier this yr. AI consultants are way more doubtless than People general to consider AI may have a really or considerably optimistic impression on the US over the subsequent 20 years (56% vs. 17%), in accordance with a earlier examine.

The divide between consultants and the general public displays deeper tensions about who advantages from AI development. Educational research present marginalized teams—minorities and other people with disabilities—categorical much more detrimental views about AI than the overall inhabitants, suggesting the expertise’s advantages aren’t reaching everybody equally.

In different phrases, the detrimental results of AI applied sciences are perceived extra by teams which can be affected by biases or stereotypes—which generative AI fashions are likely to amplify.

People do see restricted roles for AI in particular contexts—climate forecasting, detecting monetary crimes, or creating medicines. However they draw agency boundaries round private issues. Some 73% of respondents stated that AI ought to play no function in advising individuals about their religion in God, and two-thirds reject AI involvement in judging romantic compatibility.

The regulatory panorama displays these issues. A Gallup-SCSP 2025 examine discovered overwhelming assist for stricter oversight, with 72% supporting extra authorities efforts to manage that trade.

In the end, 57% or respondents stated they haven’t an excessive amount of or completely no management in whether or not AI is used of their lives, which reveals that many People already really feel the expertise’s advance is past their affect—a digital tide they will neither cease nor absolutely embrace.