AI Trust Plummets as Americans See AI as Comparable to Humans, Survey Reveals

Survey Finds Americans See AI as Comparable to Humans. It's Making Them Trust It Less

The more Americans learn and interact with artificial intelligence, the more skeptical they grow of it. That is one trend that shows up in a new Bentley University-Gallup survey shared with Gizmodo. The examination of public opinion on AI, which dates back to 2023, found that while people increasingly see the technology as comparable to certain human capabilities, their trust in it and faith in its ability to improve their lives are declining. Per the survey, 39% of people surveyed believe AI does more harm than good, up from 31% in 2025. That figure climbs to 47% among 18- to 29-year-olds, marking a pretty significant uptick from the 27% who shared that negative view of AI in 2024 and 36% in 2025. The majority of those surveyed, 52%, believe the technology does equal amounts of good and harm, while the share who believe AI does more good than harm has fallen to just 9%. This comes as the general public becomes both more aware and, seemingly, more impressed with the performance of AI tools and agents. Seven in 10 people surveyed said they believe they are somewhat or extremely knowledgeable about AI, up from 64% last year. The survey also shows that the public increasingly believe that AI performs as well as or better than people in several areas, including providing financial advice and assisting students with homework. AI has also made significant gains in how people perceive its ability to drive a car and provide medical advice, though human recommendations still reign there. Despite this -- or maybe because of it -- the public's trust in the use of AI is eroding. Nearly three in four respondents said they trust companies to use AI responsibly "not much" or "not at all." Among young people, it jumps to four in five who lack trust. Notably, while Republicans are the most trusting political group, even their levels of faith in corporate responsibility appear to be wavering. About 35% of people who identify as members of the party expressed some or a lot of trust in companies using AI responsibly, a dip from 41% in 2025. That lack of trust in how companies use AI is likely linked to the prevailing belief that AI will destroy jobs. The survey found that 79% of people said they believe AI will reduce the total number of jobs, the highest that share has ever reached in the four years that the poll has been run. Here, it's actually middle-aged adults who have the most concern of any group. A whopping 84% of people between the ages of 45 and 59 believe AI will reduce jobs, up from 75% in 2025. The theory that many AI optimists pitched when greeted with an initial level of skepticism from the general public was that the more people get to use AI, the more they'll come to like and embrace the technology. The data would seem to suggest the opposite is happening.

Americans Cool Toward AI

After two years of improving attitudes toward AI, Americans turn skeptical WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' familiarity with artificial intelligence has grown over the past two years. Today, 70% say they are somewhat or extremely knowledgeable about AI, up from 64% in 2024. But instead of becoming more comfortable with the technology, Americans' previously improving attitudes toward AI have lost momentum, according to the latest Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society research. More Americans than in past years believe AI does more harm than good and expect AI to reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next decade. They are also less likely to trust businesses to use it responsibly. More Americans Believe AI Does More Harm Than Good Although many Americans continue to recognize both the benefits and risks of AI to society in general, perceptions have become more negative this year, particularly among young adults. The percentage of Americans who believe AI does more harm than good has increased from 31% in 2025 to 39% in 2026, nearly matching the 40% recorded in 2023. At the same time, a somewhat smaller majority of U.S. adults (52%) than in the past say AI does equal amounts of harm and good, while the percentage who believe AI does more good than harm has fallen slightly, to 9%. Familiarity with AI has increased among all age groups, as have negative perceptions of AI. But this negativity is especially pronounced among younger adults. Nearly half of adults aged 18 to 29 (47%) now believe AI does more harm than good, up from 36% in 2025 and considerably higher than the 30% recorded in 2023 and 27% recorded in 2024. The 11-percentage-point increase between 2025 and 2026 was the largest among any age group. This finding, along with others in the latest Bentley-Gallup survey, suggests that young adults are becoming more skeptical of AI. It also aligns with Walton Family Foundation, GSV Ventures and Gallup research showing that Gen Z adults have become more negative toward AI, despite their adoption of the technology. Trust in Businesses to Use AI Responsibly Has Declined Most Americans continue to express little or no trust in businesses' use of AI, even as businesses increasingly incorporate the technology into products, services and workplaces. Trust in businesses' use of AI has edged downward this year, but it remains somewhat higher than levels in 2023 and 2024. Twenty-seven percent of Americans now say they trust businesses "a lot" or "some" to use AI responsibly, down slightly from 31% in 2025. Although not a large decline, it has halted two years of gradual improvement. The decline in trust between 2025 and 2026 is especially pronounced among younger adults. Among adults aged 18 to 29, the percentage expressing at least some trust has fallen from 30% to 20%, while the percentage saying they have none at all has increased from 29% to 41%. Republicans remain the most trusting political group, but they also show the largest year-over-year decline, with trust falling from 41% to 35%. Concern About AI Costing U.S. Jobs Rises Job displacement because of AI remains a top concern. Most Americans continue to anticipate that AI will lead to job losses and disrupt the labor market over the next decade. But these concerns are heightened in 2026, with nearly eight in 10 Americans (79%) saying AI will reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next 10 years, up from 73% in 2025 and 75% before that. Worry has increased most among Americans at earlier and more advanced stages of their careers. Among adults aged 18 to 29, the percentage who believe AI will reduce jobs has increased 13 points over the past year, rising from 62% to 75%; among adults aged 45 to 59, it has increased nine points, from 75% to 84%. Further, the percentage of adults aged 18 to 29 who believe AI will increase U.S. jobs over the next decade has fallen sharply, from 14% in 2025 to 5% in 2026, bringing their views more in line with other age groups. Americans Increasingly View AI as Comparable to People, but Not Better Most Americans expect AI to reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next decade and increasingly view AI as comparable to people on a number of tasks, ranging from driving a car to providing medical advice. However, Americans continue to believe AI performs worse than people on all of the tasks they were asked about in 2023 and 2026. Americans have become less likely to say AI performs worse than people in several areas, while views that AI performs better than people have changed little. The largest declines in the percentages saying AI performs worse than people are for driving a car (down seven points), giving financial advice (down six points) and providing medical advice (down five points). In each of these areas, more Americans have come to view AI as doing the task about as well as people would rather than doing it better. Providing hiring recommendations is the exception, with views that AI performs worse than people essentially unchanged. Assisting students with homework or studying is the only area where the percentage of Americans who say AI performs better than people has increased, rising slightly from 26% to 29%. Bottom Line After two years of improving attitudes toward AI, the latest Bentley-Gallup survey shows Americans have cooled toward the technology in 2026. The shift is especially pronounced among young adults, who have become more skeptical across multiple measures in the study, including AI's overall impact, businesses' use of AI and its effect on jobs. When public trust is already low, even modest shifts in public opinion like these may matter as businesses continue to expand the use of AI across products, services and workplaces. Learn more about how the Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society research works. Stay up to date with the latest insights by following @Gallup on X and on Instagram. Learn more about how the Gallup Panel works.