AI has a PR problem with Americans
The Ipsos Consumer Tracker, fielded on Ipsos' Omnibus platform, asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.
Why we asked about AI in the news: Once again, the Ipsos Global AI Monitor found the U.S. to be a massive outlier in our AI hesitancy. But why?
What we found: Among other problems, AI seems to have a PR problem.
At SXSW this year, every panel talked about AI, and most had a version of the same two slides. One was a scare slide with quotes from AI executives talking about how AI will transform the workplace in the next few years by making many jobs and careers obsolete. That was followed by a radar chart slide from Anthropic showing AI’s potential in terms of the work it can do in various careers.
That perceived assault on our livelihoods is one obvious reason Americans might not be so optimistic, and in recent months AI leaders have changed their tune somewhat that maybe AI won’t take everyone’s jobs after all. Americans are also confronted with the issue of data centers in their community, which the Tracker and subsequent polling for Reuters found to be deeply unpopular.
All that trickles out to most Americans via the news, where only 38% say the coverage of AI they see in the news is mostly favorable, down from 44% a year ago. While there’s considerable appetite to learn more about AI, there’s a similar 6-point drop in those who say that they would like to (from 63% to 57%). Most (79%) say they’re seeing more AI coverage than they were six months ago.
See all of Ipsos’ AI coverage at our Ipsos Top Topics page.
More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:
Americans want banks to do more to prevent scams
We are more satisfied with our commutes this year
The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?
