Public-opinion research tracks how widely people use AI tools and how they assess the technology's effects. Through 2026, surveys in the United States record rising adoption of consumer chatbots alongside sentiment that tilts toward concern about AI's societal impact and the pace of its development.
Adoption
The Pew Research Center's "Americans and AI 2026" report, published June 17, 2026 and drawn from 5,119 US adults surveyed February 17–23, 2026, found that about half of US adults use AI chatbots, up from a third in 2024, with roughly a quarter using them daily. By product, ChatGPT led at 44% adoption, followed by Gemini (24%), Copilot (17%), Meta AI (14%), Grok (8%), and Claude (6%) (Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact).
Sentiment and pace concerns
The same Pew study recorded views tilting negative: 40% of respondents expected AI to harm society over the next 20 years versus 16% who expected benefit, 63% said AI was advancing too quickly, and 71% believed it would make their personal information less secure (Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact). The privacy finding connects to AI and Privacy, and the pace concern to debates over Risk-Based AI Regulation.
A Quinnipiac University poll reported in July 2026 found 70% of U.S. adults believe AI will cost jobs and 55% believe it will do more harm than good in their daily lives (Source: wsj.com).
Views on the international AI race
A Pew Research Center survey of 3,488 US adults conducted June 22–28, 2026 and published July 23, 2026 found Americans saying by roughly three to one that China (36%) is more advanced than the United States (12%) in developing AI, with 18% calling them equal and 33% unsure. Forty-three percent said US AI leadership is extremely or very important, with wide splits by party (54% of Republicans against 34% of Democrats) and by age (56% of those 65 and older against 26% of adults aged 18 to 29). Fifty-one percent said AI will widen the gap between rich and poor countries, against 7% who said it will narrow (Source: pewresearch.org). See US-China AI Competition: Different Races, Different Metrics.
Views on platform oversight
Survey work on AI regulation sits alongside a broader appetite for platform oversight. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted online over the six days ending August 3, 2026 and published August 9, 2026 found that 61% of respondents said social media companies need firmer oversight, including 71% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans; support among independents was lower because many said they were unsure where they stood. Some 66% supported laws requiring social media companies to use age-verification tools to keep children under 16 off their platforms, with 74% of Republicans backing the idea against 69% of Democrats — one of the few measures on which Republican support ran ahead of Democratic. An overwhelming 85% said social media can be addictive for children, and a similar share said its use can harm their mental health. Respondents nonetheless reported liking the platforms: 70% said their time on them is fun against 35% who said it stressed them out, and they split 52% to 43% on whether they spend too much time on them daily. The poll surveyed 4,505 US adults with a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction (Source: reuters.com). See Age Verification, AI and Children.
Reuters published the poll ahead of a trial expected to begin Wednesday, August 12, 2026 on state prosecutors' allegations that Meta designed its products to addict young users. Meta denies the allegations and has said it could face up to $1.4 trillion in penalties if the states prevail. The report does not name the case or the court, and notes that Congress has not passed legislation aimed at protecting children on social media, that more than a dozen states have passed laws regulating minors' social-media access, and that NetChoice — a trade group backed by Meta, TikTok and Snap — has sued to stop age-verification laws on free-speech grounds (Source: reuters.com). See NetChoice v. Bonta (CAADCA litigation), State of Tennessee v. Meta Platforms (Instagram design trial), New Mexico v. Meta Platforms (youth harm and chatbot decree).
Organized opposition
Beyond survey sentiment, an organized anti-AI movement has developed a hard-line wing, according to a July 11, 2026 Wall Street Journal feature. The feature centered on Oakland-based Stop AI, whose leader Sam Kirchner — an electrical engineering technician who led sit-ins at OpenAI — disappeared in November 2025 after telling a colleague "the ship may have sailed on nonviolence." The report described young professionals leaving careers for think tanks, nonprofits, and street protest against AI development (Source: wsj.com).
Partisan differences on regulation
Pew recorded a partisan reversal on confidence in the government's ability to regulate AI. Democrats' lack of confidence rose 20 points to 74%, while Republicans' fell from 70% to 61% (Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact). The shift tracks the period in which AI regulation became more closely identified with the federal executive, and bears on the preemption and state-law debates discussed in Techno-Federalism and State-Level AI Regulation.
Relationships
- related: AI and Privacy — data-security concern is a recurring driver of negative sentiment
- related: Risk-Based AI Regulation — pace concern informs regulatory-appetite debates
- related: Techno-Federalism — partisan split on regulation confidence
- related: AI Labor Disruption — workforce anxiety is a component of harm expectations
- related: Age Verification, AI and Children — the child-safety measures with the widest recorded support