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People really hate AI, so why can’t they get enough?
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- DeepHorus
A striking contradiction is defining public attitudes toward artificial intelligence: widespread dislike paired with surging, almost inescapable usage. The Pew Research Center reports that more US adults expect AI to affect them personally and society overall negatively than positively, with pessimism strongest among younger people. Stanford University adds that over half of people worldwide say AI products and services make them nervous.
Meanwhile, adoption continues to climb rapidly worldwide. ChatGPT reached one billion monthly users in May, according to market analysis firm Sensor Tower, while Google DeepMind's Gemini logged 950 million users in July. Pew also finds that half of US adults now use a chatbot — more than double the 2023 figure — and one in four do so daily.
Opposition to AI infrastructure is equally pronounced. A Gallup poll in May found 71% of US adults would oppose a new AI data center in their area, far exceeding the 53% who would oppose a nuclear power plant. An NBC poll in March even ranked AI as less popular than ICE.
Analysts suspect the sentiment gap largely reflects the same population rather than two separate groups, since the numbers otherwise do not align. There is also a geographic correlation: the Global North, where adoption is highest, skews pessimistic, while the less-saturated Global South remains more optimistic.
Many observers argue the hostility is aimed not at the technology itself but at companies' relentless push to embed it everywhere. Firms are warning of the biggest social and economic upheaval in generations, which hardly invites goodwill.
Parallels with social media are notable: billions embraced Facebook, Twitter and Google search over two decades despite mounting techlash. The key difference is that AI regulation remains unsettled, giving consumers and lawmakers more leverage this time around.
All 50 US states have passed or proposed AI legislation, creating over 2,100 bills — a tenfold increase in three years. Open-source alternatives to OpenAI, Google and Anthropic further expand consumer choice.
