New Poll: Over Half Of All Californians Concerned Over The Growth Of AI

According to a new Morning Consult poll released on Thursday, over half of all Californians expressed at least some reservations towards artificial intelligence (AI) and AI systems, especially over what the new technology holds over the future of their jobs or general safety.

When asked “As you may know, artificial intelligence (AI) refers to advanced computer models that approximate human thought and behavior. Do you think that, overall, artificial intelligence (AI) will have a more positive or more negative impact on your life, or do you think it will have no impact on your life?”, 57% of respondents said that it either has no impact or more of a negative impact.

Similarly, the next question, “How concerned are you, if at all, about losing your job due to being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in the next 5 years?”, 51% of Californians said that they were either very or somewhat concerned.

In all, the poll showed an overall mixed response and just about matches general American polls from earlier this year. This includes a Pew Research poll from last month that found that 52% of Americans are concerned about AI and an AP poll finding that 58% of Americans are concerned that AI will increase political misinformation during the election next year.

The new poll has also torn AI experts. While many agree that such doubt before new technology is common and that the future benefits are limitless, others have pointed out that the dangers could, at least in the short term, prove to be more harmful than beneficial. They also noted that while new AI firms have slowed San Francisco’s office vacancy rate in recent months, the technology means that with fewer people working in tech fields in the future as a result, San Francisco could see even worse losses in the future.

Slight majority of Californians concerned over AI

“The pulse of Californians on AI is just as it is in the rest of the country,” San Francisco-based AI engineer and public consultant John Chatterjee told the Globe. “There are  lot of concerns about it. Whenever I visit public forums on it or need to talk with average people, half are excited, half are concerned, and there is no middle ground.

“A lot of people are comparing this to the industrial revolution or the rise of the internet. Both led to a lot of aspects of life getting easier and more affordable, but at the same time, it led to job loss and unexpected long-term issues like pollution or the destruction of brick and mortar stores. It is more complex than that of course, but that is it basically.”

“And this poll confirmed a lot of that. People are worried about job loss again. In every major technological advance, a lot of jobs died. But, at the same time, many new ones were created. When the U.S. shifted from industrial to service-based post-WWII, yes, factory jobs did go away, but a lot of white collar ones more than replaced them.”

“And, despite the technology, AI is never going to replace some jobs. People like the human connection too, and a lot of firms have had to rehire phone support people after companies found out that they hated talking to automated people. I helped with studies on that in the past, and many banks found that they lost customers do to not having human operators.”

“Which brings us back to this poll. On average, people recognize that AI is the future, but want us to be cautious about it. Extreme people want AI in every facet of life and to ban it completely. The sensible solution, like any technology advance we have had before, is finding a middle ground. And this poll, showing that 50-50 divide supports that this is where we are heading. Advancing, but being watched closely.”

More AI polls are expected to come out next year as more AI related bills and laws are set to come up.