Even though AI tools are becoming more common, many Americans are skeptical about their future. A recent Pew Research study highlights this growing anxiety with actual data.
Only 16 percent of Americans think artificial intelligence will positively impact society, according to the Pew Research report. This figure sharply contrasts the excitement from Silicon Valley and Wall Street, where AI is often hailed as the most transformative technology in recent years.
Use Is Up. Trust Is Not.
Interestingly, Americans are using AI chatbots (like ChatGPT, which provides written responses to your questions) more than ever. Pew found that 49 percent of Americans now use chatbots at least occasionally. That’s a significant rise from just 33 percent in 2024, meaning about one in six Americans adopted this habit in just one year.
Clearly, people find these tools useful enough to return to them. But using a tool and trusting it are two different things. Think about fast food — many eat it regularly while wishing they wouldn’t.
The distrust is quite pronounced. A full 63 percent of Americans believe AI is advancing too quickly. That’s nearly two-thirds of the population who feel the technology is outpacing our ability to understand, regulate, or safely manage it.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Americans who think AI will have a positive societal impact | 16% |
| Americans who think AI is advancing too quickly | 63% |
| Americans who use AI chatbots at least occasionally (2026) | 49% |
| Americans who used AI chatbots in 2024 | 33% |
| Increase in chatbot usage since 2024 | +16 percentage points |
Why the Gap Between Use and Optimism?
At first glance, it makes sense to think that if people use something, they must enjoy it. However, the data reveals a more complex situation. Most chatbot users rely on them for practical, limited tasks — like writing help, quick answers, or summarizing documents. That’s a far cry from believing the technology will improve society overall.
Concerns about job loss, misinformation, and rapid change without safeguards have been growing for years. These worries seem to persist, even as the tools become more capable and integrated into daily life.
This Pew survey coincides with the White House’s pressure on AI companies like Anthropic to prevent misuse of their systems. This shows that regulatory concerns about AI are very real at the policy level, not just among everyday users.
What This Means
If you use ChatGPT to draft emails or Google’s AI to summarize search results, this study likely resonates with you: these tools are useful, but they also feel like something significant is unfolding that no one completely understands.
For AI companies, these numbers should act as a warning. You can create products people use, but gaining trust and demonstrating that these products improve the world is much tougher. Adoption figures look great on a slide, but sentiment numbers like this are concerning.
For everyone else, the key takeaway is that skepticism toward AI isn’t a minority viewpoint. Right now, it represents the majority opinion in the United States. This has real implications for how companies will deploy AI in workplaces, schools, and government services moving forward. Public opinion shapes regulations, and regulations determine what these tools can do.
What People Are Saying
“The gap between ‘I use ChatGPT for work’ and ‘I think AI is going to be great for humanity’ is enormous and I feel like tech companies genuinely don’t understand this.”
— u/TemporalShift99, Reddit
“16 percent think it’ll be positive. That’s basically the same percentage that thinks most things will go fine. That’s not optimism, that’s just the baseline noise floor of human optimism.”
— YouTube comment on TechCrunch’s coverage of the Pew report
Sources
- TechCrunch: Only 16 percent of Americans think AI will have a positive impact on society
- The Verge: Two-thirds of Americans think AI is advancing too quickly
What To Watch
- Congressional AI regulation debates: Given the negative public sentiment, legislators advocating for AI oversight will enjoy significant public support. Watch for action on AI liability and disclosure laws in late 2026.
- Corporate trust campaigns: Expect major AI firms to launch trust and safety messaging in response to polling like this. It’ll be interesting to see if those campaigns make a difference.
- Pew’s next wave of data: Pew Research usually updates these studies yearly. The 2027 edition will reveal whether the gap between usage and optimism continues to grow or if sentiment shifts as the technology evolves.
Ava Mitchell
Ava Mitchell is a digital culture journalist at Explosion.com covering social media platforms, streaming services, and the creator economy. With 4 years reporting on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and the apps that shape daily life, Ava specializes in explaining platform policy changes and their impact on everyday users. She previously managed social media strategy for a tech startup, giving her firsthand experience with the platforms she now covers.
