Politico Poll: Opinion Divided on AI Risk in the US
Quick Look
- In the survey conducted by Politico, opinions were asked about the risk that artificial intelligence could destroy humanity in the USA; One-third of the participants evaluated the risk as moderate, 17 percent as almost certain, and 20 percent as seriously high.
- Differences have been observed between Democrat and Trump voters regarding risk perception and halting artificial intelligence development.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, there has been increasing debate among the public and experts about the potential risk that this technology could destroy humanity.
In the survey conducted by Politico, Americans' opinions were asked in light of the recent debates about whether artificial intelligence could destroy humanity.
One-third of the respondents stated that the risk that artificial intelligence could destroy humanity was "medium level", while 17 percent stated that this risk was "almost certain" and 20 percent stated that it was "seriously high".
The survey also examined participants' assessment of this risk according to their political views.
While 70 percent of those who voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections in the USA described this risk as "average level", this rate was 60 percent among those who voted for Trump.
48 percent of respondents are in favor of stopping the development of artificial intelligence
According to the survey, 48 percent of participants stated that artificial intelligence "has reached a good enough level" and that its development should be suspended to reduce risks, while 31 percent were in favor of continuing development work on the grounds that advanced artificial intelligence can provide significant benefits.
58 percent of Harris voters support suspending development, while 44 percent of Trump voters agree.
Nearly half of the participants stated that they sincerely believed the warnings of executives of artificial intelligence companies that this technology could eventually destroy humanity.
In contrast, 26 percent said such statements were a marketing strategy to make AI products seem more powerful or important.
The survey was conducted online with 2,064 US adults on September 13-15, through London-based "Public First".
Discussions continue about slowing down the pace of development of artificial intelligence
With the rapid spread of artificial intelligence in the United States, calls to slow down the development of this technology before it reaches dangerous levels have intensified in recent days.
Leading names in the technology industry, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, had called for artificial intelligence development efforts to be slowed down.
On the other hand, US President Donald Trump's administration adopts an approach that encourages innovation rather than new regulations that will slow down the development of artificial intelligence.
Trump claimed that "a sick conspiracy is being carried out" to get artificial intelligence technology out of control, and also argued that slowing down the work in this field would give China an advantage.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
There will be more policy debate in the United States about slowing the development of artificial intelligence.
Likely · Within months
The Trump administration will pursue policies that encourage innovation in artificial intelligence.
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What mechanisms could AI regulation be effective in?
- How will stopping the development of artificial intelligence affect technological progress?
- What are the future implications of AI competition between the United States and China?
