Survey: Ipsos
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People are still interested in learning about generative AI

People are still interested in learning about generative AI

While some of the hype arguably has slowed on generative AI, a majority of Americans (55%) still say they’re interested in learning more related skills, according to new data from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker.

13.08.24

The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.

Chart showing that people's AI knowledge is growing slowly

Why we asked: In our ongoing coverage of public opinion about AI, we thought we’d check back in on how much we think we know and want to know about this important emerging technology. This follows on a recent wave’s discussion of barriers to AI adoption.

What we found: While some of the hype arguably has slowed on generative AI (and Wall Street is sending mixed signals about it as a profit source), most people (55%) said they are interested in learning more skills. Of those who said they had at least some familiarity with AI, the main way we are learning about these tools is by teaching ourselves (56%) and social media and online tutorials (47%). About a quarter are getting training on the job (26%) and only 17% are taking formal courses. And we’re clearly learning… somewhat. Since last October, those saying they know that AI is a thing, but have no knowledge of how to use any of the tools, dropped from 23% to just 13%. But those claiming to be experts stayed steady at a mere 3%.

Chart showing that people think AI will lead to jobs being lost

Finally, we asked about how people think the job market will fare. We know that people think AI will impact their job, and a lot of younger people especially think AI will replace their jobs in the next five years. History has shown us that in each major job shift (farming to manufacturing to service economies) more jobs have been created than lost. But we mostly think that this time will be different. In a forced-choice question, people said that AI will lead to more jobs being lost two-to-one over more jobs being created. We’re more split, but still a little negative, on whether AI will lead to more disinformation or better tools to fight disinformation.

For all of our AI research (and I’ll stake a claim we’re doing more about public opinion about AI than anyone) see our Top Topics page.