As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent, a new Rutgers University-New Brunswick survey sheds light on public attitudes, revealing widespread concerns about its impact on politics and media, alongside an increasing adoption of AI tools in daily life.
More than half of the respondents expressed worry about AI’s impact on politics (58%) and news media (53%), with researchers suggesting these concerns may stem from fears of misinformation and manipulation, particularly during the 2024 election cycle when the survey was conducted.
The survey is part of the National AI Opinion Monitor (NAIOM), a new Rutgers-led, long-term project monitoring public attitudes toward AI. Researchers found 41% of Americans said AI does more harm than good in protecting personal information.
Despite these concerns, the findings show one-third of Americans have used generative AI to ask health-related questions or seek information – a finding that underscores both the opportunities and challenges as these tools evolve. The researchers define AI as a collection of advanced technologies that allow machines to perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as understanding language, decision making and recognizing images. Generative AI is a subset of those technologies which focuses on creating original content, including text, images, audio and video. To read the full story.