Nearly 2 out of every 3 Americans say artificial intelligence is developing too fast, and about 8 in 10 want the federal government to make sure the technology stays under human control, according to a new national survey released Thursday. The worry cuts across party lines, with large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans also saying Washington should make protecting American workers a top priority.
The poll, from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found 64% of adults say AI is moving “too fast.” About 1 in 4 say the pace is “about right,” and fewer than 1 in 10 say it is moving too slowly. The survey questioned 2,140 adults from Sept. 24 to 28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Jobs sit near the top of the list of concerns. About 8 in 10 Americans say it is extremely or very important for the government to keep AI under human control, and roughly the same share say the government should prioritize protecting the country’s workforce. Most adults also rate growing the U.S. economy and limiting environmental harm as highly important. Only about half say the same about promoting new technology, and slightly fewer say it about beating China.
For many working Americans, the fear is personal. Ron Theusch, a 58-year-old truck driver from rural Alden, Minnesota, told pollsters his biggest worry is losing jobs to AI, including his own. He said he can already picture self-driving trucks running around the clock along Interstate 35, loading and unloading without drivers.
The level of concern differs by party. About 3 in 4 Democrats say AI is developing too fast, compared with about half of Republicans. Republicans are more likely to say growing the economy and competing with countries like China are highly important, while Democrats are more likely to stress limiting environmental damage. Younger Americans are more worried than older ones, with people under 30 expressing more concern than those 60 and older.
Neither party has won the public’s trust on the issue. About 4 in 10 Americans say they trust neither Democrats nor Republicans to handle AI, while nearly 2 in 10 trust both equally. Even within each party, only about half of members say their own side is better equipped, and roughly 3 in 10 say neither is. About 2 in 3 adults, 67%, disapprove of President Trump’s handling of AI.
The survey lands in the middle of a heated fight over how fast the industry should move. Some of the leaders of the companies building the most powerful AI systems have publicly called for slowing development so that government oversight can catch up. Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei called for an industry-wide slowdown and more independent outside testing, a position OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has endorsed. Trump has pushed back against slowing down, arguing it could hand China an advantage, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned against regulation heavy enough to cost the U.S. its lead.
The debate has also reached the White House directly. On Sept. 29, Trump and Johnson hosted a lunch with top tech leaders, including Amodei, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Palantir’s Alex Karp and OpenAI President Greg Brockman. Afterward, Trump told reporters he had signed a voluntary pledge with the executives on self-regulation of AI models and said he would soon name a new AI czar to lead the effort.
Outside Washington, the fight is showing up in local pocketbook issues. The giant data centers that power AI, which use enormous amounts of electricity and land, have become a major issue in races across the country heading into next month’s midterm elections.
Some Americans see both sides. Kelly Opp, a 62-year-old Republican from Albuquerque, New Mexico, said she finds AI useful for certain tasks but worries it will be overused, weaken personal connections and make people less willing to research things for themselves. Stephanie Stewart, a junior-high science teacher in Sunset, Utah, uses AI to build assignments and tests but said she wants rules to protect children, teenagers and privacy.
The takeaway from the numbers is plain. Most Americans are not asking to stop AI. They are asking for someone to stay in charge of it and to make sure it does not cost them their paychecks.
JBizNews Desk | Washington, D.C.
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