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Daily AI users admit they’re anxious about the technology

A survey reveals two-thirds of Americans who use AI daily worry about it, with anxiety running highest in the West.

By mitch·5 min read
An illustration of a glowing smartphone representing AI, with anxious silhouettes around it.

A fresh Gallup poll finds that around two-thirds of Americans who use AI daily express concern over it. The research was funded by Microsoft, which has launched a broader survey probing how people feel about AI across more than 140 countries. Data from 37 nations have already been gathered, with roughly 1,000 respondents questioned in each country during the April to July period.

Microsoft sponsors the survey, yet the results reveal a divided public opinion about the company. The firm funding the research does not emerge as the story’s main subject.

Daily Use Worries In The US

Gallup reports that roughly 68% of Americans who use AI daily say they are worried about it. The concern is more pronounced among people who use AI less often.

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Only 36% of Americans expect AI to mostly help the country. The worry is real, and it cuts through the daily habit of using the technology.

The Western world is the most worried about artificial intelligence, and the United States leads that concern, with 74% of its citizens reporting feelings of worry.

Canadian And Singaporean Numbers

A different picture emerges for Canada. Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents reported using AI on a daily basis, and over half of that group expressed worries about the technology’s impact. Overall, 64% of Canadians who are aware of AI said it concerned them.

Singapore is the outlier. Forty-six percent of people report using AI daily — the highest portion of daily users in the study. More than 80% of people aware about AI expect the tech to improve their everyday lives, and 77% think it’ll help the country.

China is an exception to the general trend. Thirty-five percent of respondents say they use AI on a daily basis, and the vast majority anticipate that it will benefit their nation. The same pattern appears in Israel.

Trust In AI’s Results

Have confidence in what AI’s results was generally higher among daily users in high-adoption countries like Singapore, Israel, and China. In the U.S., only 45% of daily users expressed trust in AI’s produce.

Overall, only 36% (median) of the people surveyed said they trust AI’s results a lot. The gap between use and trust is wide in America and narrower elsewhere.

Curiosity Outweighs Worry Globally

In 34 of the 37 countries surveyed, people mostly reported feeling curious about AI. Only about 32% of those surveyed said they felt worried about AI.

Positive emotions are most common in China (90%), Singapore (89%), and Kenya (87%). The global shape is one of curiosity and optimism, with worry concentrated in the U.S. and a few other Western countries.

The Microsoft Angle

Microsoft commissioned the survey, and the findings reveal a divided view among the public. So far, the survey has gathered results from 37 countries, with roughly 1,000 respondents per country surveyed between April and July. The full project aims to cover 140 countries, though India, Australia, and Malaysia do not appear in the reported results.

What Comes Next For AI

Before July, the survey was carried out, and the speed of AI development has since grown into a subject of international concern. Now, AI safety sits on the agenda when U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping meet on Thursday.

Chen Yixin, head of the Ministry of State Security in China, wrote that AI will have “a systemic impact on the political and security environment” and could threaten China’s “political security, institutional security, and ideological security.”

Pablo Diego-Rosell, senior scientist at Gallup, said one of the clearest findings is that “attitudes toward AI are multidimensional” — people can be curious about AI, expect it to be beneficial, and use it frequently while still being worried about it.

The Numbers Behind The Story

  • About 68% of Americans who use AI daily are worried about it
  • Only 36% of Americans expect AI to mostly help the country
  • Seventy-four percent of Americans reported feelings of worry
  • Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed report using AI daily, with more than half expressing concerns
  • Forty-six percent of people report using AI daily — the highest daily-use rate in the study
  • Only 36% (median) of surveyed people trust AI’s results a lot
  • The survey was commissioned by Microsoft and conducted between April and July
  • Results cover 37 countries with about 1,000 respondents each

Microsoft commissioned the survey, and the results reveal a divided public view. Trust was registered alongside doubt, with the figures recording both sides. The paper presents the numbers without comment, as they stand.

Where the paper stands

The paper backs narrow rules against direct harm, such as forcing companies to disclose safety failures they hid, and is against broad rules that hand the market to the incumbents. That position applies here too: a survey funded by a single firm, Microsoft, cannot settle the question of what Americans think about AI, especially when the firm’s own interests are at stake.

The survey reveals a divided public view, with worry concentrated in the U.S. and optimism concentrated elsewhere. The paper takes these numbers at face value, but notes the funding source matters. Microsoft is the company behind the research, and that fact colors how the results are framed.

The paper would prefer surveys without a sponsor’s agenda driving the framing. As it stands, the numbers show what they show: Americans who use AI daily are worried, while many others abroad see the technology as helpful.

Source material: “Even Americans who use AI every day are worried about it,” TechCrunch.

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