Public anxiety about AI is increasing at the same time that chatbot use is becoming routine, according to survey data reviewed by MIT Technology Review. The numbers suggest that adoption should not be mistaken for approval of the technology or the companies deploying it.
Pew found that more US adults expect AI to have a negative rather than positive effect on them personally and on society. A Stanford report says more than half of people worldwide feel nervous about AI products, while a May Gallup poll found 71% of US adults would oppose an AI data center in their area.
Usage is moving in the opposite direction. Sensor Tower estimated that ChatGPT reached one billion monthly users in May and Gemini logged 950 million in July. Pew says half of US adults now use a chatbot—more than twice the 2023 share—and one in four use one daily. More than a third of adults across 38 OECD countries reported using generative AI within the previous three months.
The data does not prove why the same people may use and distrust AI. Possible explanations include convenience, workplace pressure and dislike of how companies impose the technology rather than rejection of every useful function. The practical lesson is that usage totals alone reveal little about trust or consent.