this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025

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871

Most Americans think AI won’t improve their lives, survey says (arstechnica.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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US experts who work in artificial intelligence fields seem to have a much rosier outlook on AI than the rest of us.

In a survey comparing views of a nationally representative sample (5,410) of the general public to a sample of 1,013 AI experts, the Pew Research Center found that "experts are far more positive and enthusiastic about AI than the public" and "far more likely than Americans overall to believe AI will have a very or somewhat positive impact on the United States over the next 20 years" (56 percent vs. 17 percent). And perhaps most glaringly, 76 percent of experts believe these technologies will benefit them personally rather than harm them (15 percent).

The public does not share this confidence. Only about 11 percent of the public says that "they are more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life." They're much more likely (51 percent) to say they're more concerned than excited, whereas only 15 percent of experts shared that pessimism. Unlike the majority of experts, just 24 percent of the public thinks AI will be good for them, whereas nearly half the public anticipates they will be personally harmed by AI.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Just about every major advance in technology like this enhanced the power of the capitalists who owned it and took power away from the workers who were displaced.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (13 children)

The amount of failed efforts the ruling class has made to corner ai shows me that it is a democratizing force.

I reap benefits from it already.

I can create local models with zero involvement from billionaires.

It scares them more than us.

And it should. It shows how evil they are. It’s objectively true. Ai knows it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (12 children)

There is a BIG difference between what you can do and what you should do.

We have ZERO understanding on the long term effects this new technology will have on our civilization.

Why is everybody so eager to go "all in"?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Most people in the early 90’s didn’t have or think they needed a computer.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I agree. Albeit there are some advantages, of course, I am 100% certain that in the aggregate, it will make people more stupid and gullible.

It is sort of obvious when you engage with the thought, and seek it to its natural conclusion:

https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/using-ai-reduces-your-critical-thinking-skills-microsoft-study-warns

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (4 children)

AI does improve our lives. Saying it doesn't is borderline delusional.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (5 children)

https://www.sesame.com/research/crossing_the_uncanny_valley_of_voice#demo

Try this voice AI demo on your phone, then imagine if it can create images and video.

This in my opinion changes every system of information gathering that we have, and will usher in an era of geniuses, who grew up with access to the answer to their every question in a granular pictorial video response. If you want to for example learn how white blood cells work it gives you ask your chatbot for a video, and you can then tell it to put in different types of bacteria to see the response. Its going to make a lot of systems we have now obsolete.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Removing the need to do any research is just removing another exercise for the brain. Perfectly crafted AI educational videos might be closer to mental junk food than anything.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Same was said about calculators.

I don't disagree though. Calculators are pretty discrete and the functions well defined.

Assuming AI can be trusted to be accurate at some point, your will reduce cognitive load that can be utilized for even higher thinking.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

This presume trust in its accuracy.

A very high bar.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

you can't learn from chatbots though. how can you trust that the material is accurate? any time I've asked a chatbot about subject matter that I'm well versed in, they make massive mistakes.

All you're proving is "we can learn badly faster!" or worse, we can spread misinformation faster.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Lol they get a capable chatbot that blows everything out of the water and suddenly they are like "yeah, this will be the last big thing"

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