Gallup: Americans Use AI Daily but Fear It Will Make the World Worse

Most people around the world who use artificial intelligence feel good about the technology and expect it to be a net positive for the future, according to a new Gallup study. The United States is one of only three countries surveyed where negative emotions about AI outweigh the positive.

A survey spanning 37 countries

Gallup ran the survey together with Microsoft, polling people in 37 countries. It will ultimately cover 140 countries and measures public engagement with AI across five dimensions: emotional response, awareness, frequency of use, expected impact and trust.

Awareness is broad — a median of 81 percent of respondents knew AI tools exist — but daily use is far narrower, at a median of 43 percent.

The adoption ladder and a trust paradox

The overall picture is mixed but optimistic. The study describes engagement with AI as an "adoption ladder" running from awareness to having used the technology at least once and then to more frequent use. In general, the more people used AI, the more they trusted its results, the more positive they felt and the more they believed it would help build a better future.

The details are more complicated. Some respondents reported positive feelings about AI while also saying they did not trust its results. "People may therefore see considerable potential in AI even while remaining uncertain about whether they can rely on the information it provides," the survey says. Daily users did tend to trust AI to provide accurate information, but the study says it cannot establish whether trust drives use, whether experience builds trust, or both.

The "Paradox of the Worried West"

Globally, positive feelings grew along with adoption. The United States moved the other way, and besides it only Egypt and Palestine were countries where negative emotions outweighed positive ones. Gallup calls the pattern the "Paradox of the Worried West."

Pablo Diego-Rosell, a senior scientist at Gallup, told 404 Media he has seen similar results elsewhere in the West. "The Netherlands, Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, Ireland and Malta all rank near the top in terms of worry," he said, adding that data from larger European countries such as Germany and France is not in yet, but that worrying about AI "appears to be a uniquely Western phenomenon."

Why the American mood may differ

404 Media notes that Americans, in the country where much of today's AI is built and first deployed, have been repeatedly told by AI evangelists and company insiders that the technology could end all life on Earth.

"The broader story is that public engagement with AI is much more complicated than simply being 'for' or 'against' it," Diego-Rosell said. "People who are aware of AI are more likely to expect it to help than harm, and positive emotions outweigh negative ones. At the same time, trust in AI's accuracy is considerably lower than optimism about its potential, and worry remains widespread in some countries. So optimism, skepticism and concern can coexist."