Survey finds 16 percent of Americans expect positive AI impact on society

A new study shows only 16 percent of Americans expect artificial intelligence to have a positive impact on society over the next 20 years. Around 40 percent said they expect a negative impact. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said AI development is moving too quickly. A similar share said they do not believe the U.S. government will enact meaningful regulation of the technology.

Daily use and chatbot preferences About one-quarter of Americans reported using AI chatbots daily, mainly for research or work tasks. Among users, 44 percent said they use OpenAI's ChatGPT, more than double the share recorded in 2023. Gemini ranked second at 24 percent, followed by Copilot at 17 percent and Meta AI at 14 percent. Smaller shares reported using Grok, Claude, and Character.ai.

Demographic patterns Men reported higher daily chatbot use than women, at 27 percent versus 20 percent. Men also showed greater enthusiasm for several chatbot brands beyond ChatGPT. People under 30 expressed the most negative outlook, with only 14 percent expecting a positive societal impact.

Nearly three-quarters of adults aged 65 and older said they never use AI chatbots. Six in 10 respondents said they routinely read AI-generated internet summaries. About half of Americans overall said they do not use AI in daily life.