Americans Have Turned Against AI in Incredible Numbers
TL;DR
Pew Research surveyed 5,119 U.S. adults in February 2026: Only 16 percent expect AI to have a positive impact on society, while 40 percent expect a negative one. At the same time, 49 percent of U.S. adults now use AI chatbots, up from 33 percent in 2024. About a quarter use them every day. Younger adults are not the AI cheerleaders many assume: 48 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds expect negative effects on society, even though 66 percent use chatbots.
Nauti's Take
The industry keeps confusing usage with approval. Many people use chatbots because they are fast, cheap or useful at work, not because they endorse the AI boom.
When 71 percent expect weaker data security and 63 percent say the pace is too fast, this is not a messaging problem. It is a trust problem.
Anyone building or deploying AI needs fewer shiny demos and more control, transparency and real opt-out paths.
Briefingshow
The numbers do not point to a simple tech backlash, but to an adoption problem inside active usage. People use AI because it is useful, available, or increasingly pushed at work, yet that does not create trust. For vendors, that is risky: usage is not the same as social legitimacy.
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