Pew Research Center asked 10,000 people their views on AI.

Survey Reveals the Public’s Opinions on AI Are Mixed According to How It’s Used

Toward the end of 2021, there was a survey taken regarding the amount of AI that has come into our modern-day lives and how much of that technology is having a  positive or negative impact. Over 10,000 people were asked to participate and the answers will likely surprise you.

We found the survey results in a piece published by cnn.com and written by Dejania Oliver. Although there was a more positive outlook for facial recognition, algorithms, and exoskeletons, the public was much warier about the use of computer chip implants in the brain, the future of autonomous passenger vehicles, and gene editing.

When you start to go over the number of professions or trades that have instituted AI into their business models, you see that AI is already a huge part of our daily routines.

Trying to grasp how much AI has already been operating and how much might be too much is no easy task. But getting an overview of the public’s understanding of AI is fascinating as well.

“This kind of public opinion work brings ordinary people’s voices into the development facilities where these things are happening,” said Lee Rainie, Pew’s director of internet and technology research. “Adding everyone’s voice to thinking about these things will help people make good policy around them and help technologists understand where the public is coming from when these technologies roll out into their lives.”

Here are a few samples of what Oliver found:

  • –Facial recognition technology used by police was met with a mostly positive reaction, as 46% of adults said it would be good for society.
  • About 33% of people supported the use of robotic exoskeletons with built-in AI systems to boost strength for manual labor jobs, while 24% did not.
  • When it comes to human abilities, 56% of those surveyed said computer chip implants in the brain are a bad idea for widespread use, and 78% said they would not want one for themselves, even if it could improve how quickly they process information.
  • An equal percentage of people (30%) were for and against gene editing to reduce a baby’s risk of a serious health condition.

And perhaps less surprising comes verification that young people have far more faith in AI than their elders.

How Demographics Played a Role

As may be expected, there were differences in how people responded to the survey according to gender, race, and education levels of the participants.

Hispanic or Black adults were more likely than White adults to support the use of algorithms to make final decisions for job interviews, parole, and medical treatments. Black adults (73%) were more likely than White (65%) or Hispanic adults (63%) to say companies should consider race when developing programs on social media.

Beyond race, men were more than twice as likely as women to say using exoskeletons for manual labor would be a good idea.

Even one’s political views showed up in the answers.

And no matter how we may feel as individuals about AI, the fact is that it is here to stay and will only become more embedded in our world with each passing day.

Lee Rainie, Pew’s director of internet and technology research says,

“Adding everyone’s voice to thinking about these things will help people make good policy around them and help technologists understand where the public is coming from when these technologies roll out into their lives.”

read more at cnn.com