In California, three quarters of voters view AI as a threat
Even Silicon Valley’s backyard is bracing for a dark AI future.
California voters are overwhelmingly pessimistic about AI and believe the rapidly advancing technology poses a serious risk to humanity, according to a new poll by POLITICO and its partners. The anxiety in the hub of the global tech industry cuts across partisan and demographic lines, with voters of different ages and party affiliations expressing remarkably similar concerns about where the technology is headed.
“The drumbeat of negativism is really quite clear,” said Jack Citrin, a University of California, Berkeley, political science professor and co-director of the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research-POLITICO poll.
The results are a striking rebuke of the technology from a state that, more than any other, stands to benefit from the industry’s continued growth. More than three quarters of registered voters (77%) said advanced AI is likely a threat to humans, with 44% saying it is “very likely” a serious risk.
The anxiety in California, ground zero of the AI boom, mirrors rising concern across the country. A recent survey from POLITICO and the independent London-based pollster Public First found 63% of Americans said advanced AI poses at least a “moderate risk” of destroying humanity. [Continue reading…]