In short
- A new PEW survey showed that Americans wanted the help of AI with chores, but feared that it destroyed their mind and relationships.
- Most Americans said that AI created creativity and human connection, with only 10% more excited than worried.
- The majority admitted that they had no control over AI in their lives – only a digital tide that they could not stop.
Americans are becoming increasingly uncomfortable about artificial intelligence that infiltrates their daily lives, with half that are now more worries than enthusiastic about the technology – a sharp jump of 37% only four years ago, according to a new PEW Research Center research.
The study of 5,023 American adults, conducted in June 2025 and published this week, reveals a nation that is struggling with a fundamental paradox: while 73% say they would help AI with daily tasks, 61% want more control over how it is used in their lives.
Half of our adults say that the increased use of AI in daily life feels more concerned than excited, compared to 10% that are more enthusiastic than worried.
Americans, however, see AI and both inevitably and they are in danger of threatening human capacities. About 53% of the respondents said that AI will aggravate people to think creatively, compared to 16% who say it will improve this. Half believes that AI will damage the ability of people to form meaningful relationships, with only 5% that expects improvement in human connections.
“I think a significant part of humanity is inclined to look for the path of the least resistance,” a woman told the researchers in research. “As annoying and difficult as hardships and obstacles can be, I believe that the experience of encountering these things and overcoming them is essential to form our character.”
The generation division shows that the younger the generation, the more exposure to AI they will have in their daily lives. According to the study, 62% of those younger than 30 say they have heard or read a lot about AI, compared to 32% of that age of 65 years and older.
Yet, despite their greater fame with technology, these younger Americans express deeper pessimism about its effects. And 61% of adults younger than 30 think that the increased use of AI in society will make people worse in creative thinking, compared to 42% of that age of 65 years and older.
The American discomfort reflects global trends. Stanford’s Hai Ai Index Report 2025 confirms that worldwide ambivalence and concerns increase, even if people appreciate AI’s efficiency. The tension is in particular acute in developed countries: in 2022, countries such as Great -Britain (38%), Germany (37%) and the United States (35%) were one of the least probably worldwide to consider AI as more advantages than disadvantages.
Trust emerges as another critical error line. Although 76% say that it is extreme or very important to be able to see if photos, videos or text are taken by AI or people, more than half admit that they have no confidence in their ability to make that distinction. This trust shortage goes beyond the content detection: KPMGs 2025 Global Trust Report has shown that confidence in AI companies has been falling steadily since 2022.
Another interesting finding of Pew Research is that 57% of Americans assess the risks of AI for society so high or very high, while only a quarter seem to be about technology.
When asked to explain their worries, the respondents most mentioned the erosion of human skills and connections – people who become lazy, losing critical thinking skills, or too much dependent on machines for basic tasks.
This growing Wariness contrasts sharply with AI experts who were investigated by PEW earlier this year. AI experts are much more likely than Americans in general to believe that AI will have a very or somewhat positive effect on the United States in the coming 20 years (56% versus 17%), according to an earlier study.
The gap between experts and the public reflects deeper tensions about who benefits from AI preliminary output. Academic studies show that marginalized groups – minorities and people with disabilities – suppress even more negative views on AI than the general population, suggesting that the benefits of technology do not reach everyone equally.
In other words, the negative effects of AI technologies are more observed by groups that are influenced by prejudices or stereotypes -which tend to strengthen generative AI models.
Americans see limited roles for AI in specific contexts – weather forecast, detecting financial crimes or developing medicines. But they draw strong boundaries on personal matters. About 73% of the respondents said that AI should not play a role in advising people about their faith in God, and two-thirds reject AI involvement in assessing romantic compatibility.
The regulatory landscape reflects these concerns. A Gallup-SPP 2025 study found overwhelming support for strict supervision, with 72% supporting more government efforts to control that industry.
In the end, 57% said that the respondents said that they do not have too much or absolutely no control over the question of whether AI is used in their lives, which shows that many Americans already feel that the rise of the technology is going out of their influence – a digital tide that they cannot stop or completely embrace it.
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