Americans are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to help with things like research, writing, school or work projects, and data analysis — but they’re not happy about it.
Even as AI use and adoption increases, Americans continue to distrust the new tool, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Monday. Of the nearly 1,400 Americans surveyed, more than a third say they don’t trust AI — 76% say they trust it sometimes or only sometimes, compared to just 21% who trust it a lot or almost all of the time.
That comes as an increasing number of Americans embrace AI in their daily lives; only 27% say they have never used AI tools, down from 33% in April 2025.
“The conflict between the use and trust of AI is striking,” said Chetan Jaiswal, a professor of computer science at Quinnipiac. “Fifty-one percent say they use AI for research, and many use it for writing, work, and data analysis. But only 21 percent trust AI-generated information most or almost all of the time. Americans are clearly embracing AI, but they’re doing so with deep skepticism, not deep trust.”
Part of that lack of trust may stem from a sense of fear about what the future of AI will bring. The survey found that only 6% were “very happy” with AI and 62% were neither very nor very happy. Those numbers change when we talk about concerns: 80% are very or somewhat concerned about AI, with Millennials and Baby Boomers taking the mantle of most concern, with Gen Z trailing close behind.
A strong half (55%) say AI will do more harm than good in their daily lives, while only a third say AI will do more good than harm, according to the poll. More people have negative views of AI compared to last year’s survey, according to researchers — which may not be surprising after a year of Big Tech layoffs, AI brainstorming lawsuits ending lives, and data centers straining grid power.
Americans across the board oppose the construction of AI data centers in their communities, with 65% saying they would not want one built, mostly citing high electricity costs and water use.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026
The majority (70%) think that the development of AI will reduce the number of job opportunities, while only 7% think that AI will lead to more job opportunities. That’s up from 56% of Americans who said last year that advances in AI would lead to job losses and 13% who thought AI would increase job opportunities. Members of Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2008, are the most pessimistic, with 81% foreseeing a decline in jobs.
They don’t really think about it, either. Entry-level job postings in the US have plunged 35% by 2023, and AI leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have warned that the technology will eliminate jobs.
“Young Americans report the highest familiarity with AI tools, but they also have less optimism about the labor market,” said Tamilla Triantoro, a professor of business statistics and information systems at Quinnipiac, in a statement. “The fluency of AI and hope here goes in a different direction.”
Interestingly, although most Americans are concerned about the impact of AI on the overall labor market, most do not think it will come directly to their jobs. Among employed Americans, 30% are concerned that AI will make their jobs redundant. Still, that’s up from 21% last year.
“Americans are more concerned about what AI can do to the job market than what it can do to their jobs,” Triantoro said. “People seem more willing to predict a strong market than see themselves on the losing end of that disruption — a pattern worth watching as technology moves deeper into the workplace,”
Perhaps the biggest reason Americans have trust issues with AI is because they don’t believe the companies behind the technology are telling the truth. Two-thirds of respondents said businesses are not doing enough to be transparent about their use of AI. That same percentage also say the government isn’t doing enough to regulate AI. The idea comes as states push to retain their authority over AI regulations, and even federal officials — including under Trump’s latest, more light-hearted AI framework — and industry leaders are pushing for more restrictive state-level regulations.
“The American people are not completely rejecting AI, but they are sending a warning,” Triantoro said. “Too much uncertainty, too little trust, too little control, and too much fear of jobs.”
