Poll: As Americans form views on AI, they're divided on its role in school and everyday life
The poll found that 58% of Americans believe AI is improving society, while 57% are concerned about the technology's impact on privacy. Additionally, 56% think AI will create more jobs than it eliminates, while 41% believe the opposite. The survey also showed that 48% of respondents are worried about the potential for AI to be used in weapons systems. Overall, the results highlight the complex and varied opinions that Americans hold regarding artificial intelligence.
Americans are almost evenly split on several questions measuring their views on artificial intelligence, with no meaningful differences based on age and partisanship, according to the NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. The split views on AI use and AI’s impact on the future come as elected officials in Washington have largely left AI companies untouched, introducing few regulations that constrain them.
President Donald Trump has undone many of the initial attempts at regulation and oversight put in place by then-President Joe Biden, and many Republicans have embraced the Trump administration’s anti-regulation stance on AI. But in the background, college professors and teachers across the U.S. have expressed exasperation at the potential influence that increasing student use of AI could have on young minds, and many progressives have balked at AI’s potential influence on the job market and the environment, with many urging others to abandon the use of AI altogether.
AI Tool Usage
Slightly less than half — 44% — of U.S. adults surveyed said that they used AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot “sometimes” or “very often,” while 56% said they used these tools “rarely” or “never.” The poll found no meaningful breakdowns in AI tool use by political party.
Views on AI's Impact on the Future
Looking at the issue by partisanship, there were similar percentages across Republicans, Democrats, and independent voters in terms of AI tool use frequency. When considering the impact of AI on the future, 44% of American adults surveyed said they thought AI would make their and their families’ lives “much better” or “somewhat better.” However, 42% of respondents said they thought AI would make their and their families’ futures “somewhat worse” or “much worse.”
AI in Schools
The survey also tested views about the use of AI in schools, with a near even split among American adults about whether using AI tools in schools prepares students well for the future. Just over half — 53% — of survey respondents agreed that the integration of AI tools in the classroom could better prepare students for the future. The remainder — 47% — thought that prohibiting the use of AI tools in the classroom would better prepare students.
There were no significant breaks along party lines in people’s views of the use of AI in schools. Similarly, among age groups, there was little variation in views of the use of AI in schools.
The NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey surveyed 19,410 adults online from May 30-June 10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.