RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The more Americans learn and interact with artificial intelligence, the more skeptical they grow of it. That is one trend that shows up in a new Bentley University-Gallup survey shared with Gizmodo. The examination of public opinion on AI, which dates back to 2023, found that while people increasingly see the technology as comparable to certain human capabilities, their trust in it and faith in its ability to improve their lives are declining.
Per the survey, 39% of people surveyed believe AI does more harm than good, up from 31% in 2025. That figure climbs to 47% among 18- to 29-year-olds, marking a pretty significant uptick from the 27% who shared that negative view of AI in 2024 and 36% in 2025. The majority of those surveyed, 52%, believe the technology does equal amounts of good and harm, while the share who believe AI does more good than harm has fallen to just 9%.
This comes as the general public becomes both more aware and, seemingly, more impressed with the performance of AI tools and agents. Seven in 10 people surveyed said they believe they are somewhat or extremely knowledgeable about AI, up from 64% last year. The survey also shows that the public increasingly believe that AI performs as well as or better than people in several areas, including providing financial advice and assisting students with homework. AI has also made significant gains in how people perceive its ability to drive a car and provide medical advice, though human recommendations still reign there.
Despite this—or maybe because of it—the public's trust in the use of AI is eroding. Nearly three in four respondents said they trust companies to use AI responsibly "not much" or "not at all." Among young people, it jumps to four in five who lack trust. Notably, while Republicans are the most trusting political group, even their levels of faith in corporate responsibility appear to be wavering. About 35% of people who identify as members of the party expressed some or a lot of trust in companies using AI responsibly, a dip from 41% in 2025.
That lack of trust in how companies use AI is likely linked to the prevailing belief that AI will destroy jobs. The survey found that 79% of people said they believe AI will reduce the total number of jobs, the highest that share has ever reached in the four years that the poll has been run. Here, it's actually middle-aged adults who have the most concern of any group. A whopping 84% of people between the ages of 45 and 59 believe AI will reduce jobs, up from 75% in 2025.
The theory that many AI optimists pitched when greeted with an initial level of skepticism from the general public was that the more people get to use AI, the more they'll come to like and embrace the technology. The data would seem to suggest the opposite is happening.
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