Poll: Voters Uneasy on AI, Distrust Both Parties

A new poll showed that voters across the country are uneasy about artificial intelligence.

The NBC News poll showed that most respondents said the risks of AI outweigh the benefits — and that few trust either political party to manage it well.

According to the survey, 57% of registered voters said AI's risks outweighed its benefits, while 34% said the opposite. The findings highlighted growing public skepticism as AI integrates into the workplace, the economy, and everyday life.

Only 26% of voters said they have positive feelings about AI, while 46% said they view it negatively. In the poll, AI ranked ahead of only the Democratic Party and Iran.

Concerns about jobs appeared to be a major driver of public sentiment. AI industry leaders have acknowledged that the technology is likely to eliminate some jobs in the years ahead, even as elected officials and business leaders tout its potential to unlock major economic and technological gains.

The Trump administration has made U.S. leadership in AI a key priority, arguing America must stay ahead of China while embracing innovation. President Donald Trump recently pushed back on warnings that AI would devastate the labor market.

"They said the internet was gonna do — everything was gonna do — robots are gonna kill jobs. Everything's gonna kill jobs," Trump told NBC in an interview last month.

"And you end up, if you're smart, doing great."

Still, voters are not sold on either party's handling of the issue.

When asked which party is better at handling AI, 20% chose Republicans, and 19% chose Democrats. Another 33% said neither party is doing a good job, while 24% said both are about the same.

Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster with Public Opinion Strategies, which conducted the survey with Hart Research Associates, said the issue is "up for grabs" politically.

Negative views were strongest among younger voters and women.

Voters ages 18 to 34 gave AI a net favorability rating of minus 44, while women ages 18 to 49 posted a minus 41 rating. The most favorable views came from men over 50 and upper-class voters, both at plus 2.

The poll also found a partisan divide. Republicans were evenly split: 33% held positive views of AI and 33% held negative views.

Independents and Democrats were more skeptical.

Among independents, 26% viewed AI positively and 48% negatively. Among Democrats, the split was 20% positive to 56% negative.

Republican pollster Micah Roberts said the findings reflected "a lot of concerns that people have about this technology negatively impacting jobs and how those are especially relevant to these groups: younger voters [and] women under 50."

Overall, 56% of voters said they had used AI in the last two months.

The poll was conducted from Feb. 27 to March 3 and surveyed 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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