US public trust in artificial intelligence drops as concern over job losses grows, Gallup poll shows

Americans’ trust in artificial intelligence has declined, according to a survey released Tuesday by Bentley University and Gallup, which shows a growing proportion of the US population believes the technology causes more harm than good.

According to the poll, 39% of respondents said AI does more harm than good, up from 31% recorded in 2023.

When asked whether they believed AI provides more benefit than harm, the proportion of respondents sharing that view fell to 9%, down from 11% in 2025.

The survey also asked participants: “Do you trust businesses to use AI responsibly?” A total of 31% of respondents stated they do not trust companies at all. While this figure does not reflect a significant drop compared to 2023, the report noted that distrust has increased rather than diminished for the first time since the survey was initiated.

According to the study, Americans’ attitudes toward AI stabilized in 2026 following two years of optimism regarding the technology. Among those surveyed, 79% said they believe AI will reduce the number of jobs in the US over the next 10 years.

In March, Anthropic analyzed the potential job losses AI could cause in the labor market. The company determined that white-collar professions stand out among the areas where AI could theoretically prove most successful in replacing human labor.

In contrast, survey respondents expressed their belief that AI performs at the same level as humans, or worse, in specific tasks such as providing financial advice, driving automobiles, and offering recruitment advice to companies.

Several US states are taking steps to slow the expansion of AI infrastructure and are reviewing security measures surrounding the technology. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul backed a regulation introducing a one-year moratorium on data centers to allow lawmakers time to establish an environmental and energy framework.

In the US Congress, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a bill in March titled the “Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act.” The proposed legislation aimed to halt the construction of new data centers until stronger national security measures are established.

Sanders argued that such moratoriums were necessary, stating that a pause would buy time to “understand the risks of AI” and “protect working families.”

The survey by Bentley University and Gallup was conducted between May 4 and May 11.