US public distrust AI and fear job loss, surveys show

Two recent surveys reveal deep mistrust of artificial intelligence among Americans. A WordPress VIP‑commissioned poll of 1,200 U.S. adults found that 86% lack trust in AI results, 42% are wary of AI‑generated answers when sources are unclear, and 75% worry that a few companies dominate online content. Seventy‑five percent would rather interact with a human than an AI on a company's website, and 56% say they can tell when they are dealing with an AI. Respondents also reported frequent encounters with AI bots on social media (92% overall, 63% regularly) and fatigue after about 40 minutes of exposure.

A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll of 4,531 U.S. adults showed that 53% fear AI will cause job loss in their household, a sentiment that cuts across age, income and education. Recon Analytics analysis of over 137,000 responses identified that 88.4% of Americans hold at least one AI‑related concern—primarily personal autonomy and privacy (78.4%), truth and trust (55.4%) and livelihood (34.3%). At the same time, 70.7% simultaneously hold at least one hope about AI, though hope is much lower among those who never use the technology. Over half of non‑users say they would reject AI even if it were guaranteed risk‑free, and 82.3% of hardened skeptics report that nothing could build their trust.