About 68% of Americans who use artificial intelligence every day are worried about it, according to a new survey by Gallup. The figures show concern rises even higher among those who use the technology less frequently.
The study, commissioned by Microsoft, polled roughly 1,000 people in each of 37 countries between April and July. Researchers plan to eventually expand the project to 140 nations. India, Australia and Malaysia are not included in the current data.
Worry dominates in the West
The United States sits at the anxious end of an international chart. Seventy-four percent of Americans reported feelings of worry, while only 36% expect AI to mostly help the country. Western nations show the highest levels of concern overall.
Canada mirrors this mix of frequent use and unease. Twenty-nine percent of respondents reported daily use, and more than half of that group expressed concern about the technology. Overall, 64% of Canadians aware of AI said it worried them.
The situation differs elsewhere. Singapore recorded the highest portion of daily users in the study at 46%. More than 80% of those aware of AI there expect the tech to improve their everyday lives, and 77% believe it will help the country. Similar optimism appears in China and Israel.
China reports 35% daily usage, with most people expecting the technology to benefit the nation. These findings contrast sharply with the American experience.
Trust in accuracy does not always match optimism. People who use AI daily generally trust its results more, particularly in high-adoption countries like Singapore, Israel and China. In the United States, only 45% of daily users expressed that level of confidence. Across the board, only 36% of respondents said they trust AI results a lot.
Curiosity outweighs fear globally
Positivity about AI still outweighs negative sentiments in the data. In 34 of the 37 countries surveyed, people mostly reported feeling curious about the technology. Fewer said they felt happy or excited. Only about 32% of those surveyed said they felt worried.
Positive emotions are most common in China at 90%, Singapore at 89% and Kenya at 87%.
It is unclear how much sentiment in some nations, especially China, might have changed since the survey ended in July. The pace of AI development has lately burgeoned into a matter of international importance. AI safety is one of the major topics on the table for discussion when US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping meet on Thursday.
Chen Yixin, head of China’s Ministry of State Security, wrote recently that AI will have a systemic impact on the political and security environment. He noted it could threaten China’s political security, institutional security and ideological security.
“One of the clearest findings is that attitudes toward AI are multidimensional,” said Pablo Diego-Rosell, a senior scientist at Gallup. “People can be curious about AI, expect it to be beneficial and use it frequently while still being worried about it. Similarly, they can see considerable potential in AI while remaining skeptical about whether the information it provides is accurate.”
What it means
People relying on AI for day-to-day tasks may end up supporting tougher rules or resisting its use in hiring, healthcare, education or government. There is an argument that training and serving AI models can harm the climate, and their unregulated use can disrupt cybersecurity, diminish content ownership, upset the creative arts fields, or harm data privacy.
The report suggests that greater exposure alone will not resolve the unease around the technology. Given the amount of money being invested, AI will likely continue proliferating even as disputes rage around where it belongs and what limits should be placed around it.
