A new survey from Elon University found that although 65 percent of respondents regularly use AI, many also express serious concern about its impact on humanity.
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Americans are increasingly concerned about the future of human connection, agency, purpose and critical thinking in the age of artificial intelligence, according to a new survey from Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center.
The “Human Purpose in Peril” report, published Monday, found that while 65 percent of respondents said they had used AI chatbots in the previous week, 50 percent worried about humans maintaining their ability to use the tools effectively and appropriately, and 55 percent worried about humans’ ability to think critically and evaluate information. In addition, 46 percent said they weren’t confident that humans could retain their sense of motivation and purpose as AI advances.
Of the 1,505 American adults surveyed in May, 59 percent said they think AI will have a significant influence on their everyday lives within the next one to 10 years, while 18 percent said that it already has a significant influence in their lives.
Colleges and university leaders across the country have spent the last few years figuring out whether to ban AI outright to prevent cheating or create policies that allow for some use while rethinking assessments, essay writing and homework. Although very little research has been done on how AI affects educational outcomes, many institutions have inked multi-million dollar deals with technology companies to give students and faculty access to platforms such as ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini and Meta AI. Others have introduced new academic majors in AI.
Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center and one of the authors of the report, said in a statement that the findings echo concerns about human resilience that experts expressed in a 378-page report the center released in April.
“Those experts stressed the urgent need for systemic, institutional evolution to help individuals maintain their agency,” Rainie said. “This follow-up poll offers a vivid portrait of a nation continuing to embrace AI, reaping tangible benefits, yet feeling deeply anxious about the impact AI will have on what it means to be human in an AI-suffused future.”
The survey found that Americans are split on who to turn to for guidance in adjusting to the world of AI. Respondents reported that technology companies, colleges and universities and employers will likely be more effective in providing guidance than federal and state governments or churches and other houses of worship.
Among the 65 percent of respondents who reported regularly using large language models, 43 percent said they use AI to help make major decisions and 31 percent said they use it for news consumption. At least 56 percent of respondents said they think AI models are smarter than they are and 88 percent said they learn something new from AI at least some of the time.
Almost half of the self-identified AI users overall reported that the technology has had a positive influence on their lives, increasing their motivation to learn new skills, improving their written communication and boosting creativity.
