The fear of AI has reached a fever pitch.
There’s data to support it. According to the Chapman University Survey of American Fears, an annual poll that asks what Americans are “really afraid of,” the fear of AI hurting the political process and economy ranked in third and seventh place, respectively.
These fears were only outdone by “corrupt government officials” and the possibility of the US becoming involved in another world war. Perhaps the most extraordinary context: anxieties about AI are scaring Americans more than the fear of a loved one “becoming seriously ill,” or “people I love dying.”
Put simply, according to the survey, people are more scared of AI than a loved one getting a terminal diagnosis — a grim indication of just how much head space fears of AI are taking up for the average person.
