Survey finds daily AI users in the U.S. report higher worry about the technology despite frequent use

A Gallup survey commissioned by Microsoft, covering 37 countries and polling about 1,000 people per country between April and July, found that 68% of Americans who use AI daily reported feeling worried about the technology. This level of concern was higher than in any other country surveyed, underscoring a disconnect between usage and comfort. In contrast, countries like Singapore (46% daily users) and China (35% daily users) reported significantly higher optimism about AI's potential benefits, with 77% of Singaporeans and 73% of Chinese respondents expecting AI to help their countries.

The survey also revealed that Western countries, including the U.S. and Canada, exhibited a pattern of relatively high AI usage alongside elevated levels of concern. For example, 29% of Canadians reported using AI daily, but 64% of Canadians aware of AI expressed worry about its impact. This trend suggests that familiarity with AI does not necessarily correlate with reduced anxiety, particularly in wealthier nations where debates about AI safety and regulation are most pronounced.

Trust in AI's accuracy remained low globally, with only 36% of respondents across the 37 countries expressing high confidence in AI's results. Daily users in the U.S. were slightly more trusting than less frequent users, but confidence levels remained modest, with only 45% of U.S. daily users reporting high trust. In high-adoption countries like Singapore, Israel, and China, daily users showed greater trust in AI's results, though skepticism persisted among less frequent users.

Despite widespread worry, the survey found that positive emotions about AI were more common than negative ones in most countries. A median of 32% of respondents reported feeling worried, while curiosity was the most frequently cited emotion in 34 of the 37 countries. Optimism was particularly strong in China (90%), Singapore (89%), and Kenya (87%), indicating that attitudes toward AI are complex and vary significantly by region.

The report highlights that greater exposure to AI does not appear to resolve public unease, complicating the narrative that adoption alone will lead to widespread acceptance. Pablo Diego-Rosell, a senior scientist at Gallup, noted that people can simultaneously be curious about AI, expect it to be beneficial, and use it frequently while still harboring significant concerns about its implications.