Americans Cool Toward AI - Gallup News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ familiarity with artificial intelligence has grown over the past two years. Today, 70% say they are somewhat or extremely knowledgeable about AI, up from 64% in 2024.

But instead of becoming more comfortable with the technology, Americans’ previously improving attitudes toward AI have lost momentum, according to the latest Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society research.

More Americans than in past years believe AI does more harm than good and expect AI to reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next decade. They are also less likely to trust businesses to use it responsibly.

More Americans Believe AI Does More Harm Than Good

Although many Americans continue to recognize both the benefits and risks of AI to society in general, perceptions have become more negative this year, particularly among young adults.

The percentage of Americans who believe AI does more harm than good has increased from 31% in 2025 to 39% in 2026, nearly matching the 40% recorded in 2023. At the same time, a somewhat smaller majority of U.S. adults (52%) than in the past say AI does equal amounts of harm and good, while the percentage who believe AI does more good than harm has fallen slightly, to 9%.

Familiarity with AI has increased among all age groups, as have negative perceptions of AI. But this negativity is especially pronounced among younger adults. Nearly half of adults aged 18 to 29 (47%) now believe AI does more harm than good, up from 36% in 2025 and considerably higher than the 30% recorded in 2023 and 27% recorded in 2024. The 11-percentage-point increase between 2025 and 2026 was the largest among any age group.

This finding, along with others in the latest Bentley-Gallup survey, suggests that young adults are becoming more skeptical of AI. It also aligns with Walton Family Foundation, GSV Ventures and Gallup research showing that Gen Z adults have become more negative toward AI, despite their adoption of the technology.

Trust in Businesses to Use AI Responsibly Has Declined

Most Americans continue to express little or no trust in businesses’ use of AI, even as businesses increasingly incorporate the technology into products, services and workplaces. Trust in businesses’ use of AI has edged downward this year, but it remains somewhat higher than levels in 2023 and 2024.

Twenty-seven percent of Americans now say they trust businesses “a lot” or “some” to use AI responsibly, down slightly from 31% in 2025. Although not a large decline, it has halted two years of gradual improvement.

The decline in trust between 2025 and 2026 is especially pronounced among younger adults. Among adults aged 18 to 29, the percentage expressing at least some trust has fallen from 30% to 20%, while the percentage saying they have none at all has increased from 29% to 41%. Republicans remain the most trusting political group, but they also show the largest year-over-year decline, with trust falling from 41% to 35%.

Concern About AI Costing U.S. Jobs Rises

Job displacement because of AI remains a top concern. Most Americans continue to anticipate that AI will lead to job losses and disrupt the labor market over the next decade. But these concerns are heightened in 2026, with nearly eight in 10 Americans (79%) saying AI will reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next 10 years, up from 73% in 2025 and 75% before that.

Worry has increased most among Americans at earlier and more advanced stages of their careers. Among adults aged 18 to 29, the percentage who believe AI will reduce jobs has increased 13 points over the past year, rising from 62% to 75%; among adults aged 45 to 59, it has increased nine points, from 75% to 84%.

Further, the percentage of adults aged 18 to 29 who believe AI will increase U.S. jobs over the next decade has fallen sharply, from 14% in 2025 to 5% in 2026, bringing their views more in line with other age groups.

Americans Increasingly View AI as Comparable to People, but Not Better

Most Americans expect AI to reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next decade and increasingly view AI as comparable to people on a number of tasks, ranging from driving a car to providing medical advice. However, Americans continue to believe AI performs worse than people on all of the tasks they were asked about in 2023 and 2026.

Americans have become less likely to say AI performs worse than people in several areas, while views that AI performs better than people have changed little. The largest declines in the percentages saying AI performs worse than people are for driving a car (down seven points), giving financial advice (down six points) and providing medical advice (down five points). In each of these areas, more Americans have come to view AI as doing the task about as well as people would rather than doing it better.

Providing hiring recommendations is the exception, with views that AI performs worse than people essentially unchanged. Assisting students with homework or studying is the only area where the percentage of Americans who say AI performs better than people has increased, rising slightly from 26% to 29%.

Bottom Line

After two years of improving attitudes toward AI, the latest Bentley-Gallup survey shows Americans have cooled toward the technology in 2026. The shift is especially pronounced among young adults, who have become more skeptical across multiple measures in the study, including AI's overall impact, businesses’ use of AI and its effect on jobs.

When public trust is already low, even modest shifts in public opinion like these may matter as businesses continue to expand the use of AI across products, services and workplaces.

Learn more about how the Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society research works.

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