Most Americans See Artificial Intelligence as a Threat to Jobs (Just Not Theirs)

The vast majority of Americans expect artificial intelligence to lead to job losses in the coming decade, but few see it coming for their own position.

And despite the expected decline in employment, the public widely embraces artificial intelligence in attitude and in practice. About 5 in 6 Americans already use a product or service that features it, according to a survey that was conducted last fall and from which new findings were released Tuesday.

“Whether they know it or not, AI has moved into a big percent of Americans’ lives in one way or another already,” said Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of Gallup, which conducted the survey with Northeastern University.

The study defines artificial intelligence as any technology that can perform a task as humans do. But even if that definition feels overly broad, the findings reveal just how ubiquitous certain products have become in American life.

About 84 percent of Americans, for example, use navigation apps like Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps, the study found. About 72 percent of respondents said they streamed music or video with services like Netflix and Pandora.

Nearly half said they used personal assistants on their smartphones, while about 32 percent use ride-sharing apps. Some 22 percent used intelligent home personal assistants, like Google Home or Amazon’s Alexa. Twenty percent said they use a smart home device, such as a self-learning light or thermostat.

The technologies were used most widely among younger and more educated Americans: More than 90 percent of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree or between the ages of 18 and 35 used navigation apps, for example.

The report that was released Tuesday reflects only some of the findings of a large survey of nearly 3,300 American adults conducted in September and October.

The other findings, released in January, show that more than 3 in 4 Americans believe that artificial intelligence will fundamentally change how the public works and lives in the coming decade.

About the same share expect artificial intelligence to destroy more jobs than it creates, though only about 1 in 4 were worried about losing their own job.