{"id":1440,"date":"2026-10-21T11:04:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/?p=1440"},"modified":"2026-10-21T11:04:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:04:58","slug":"most-americans-say-ai-is-bad-for-society-oppose-more-data-centers-abc-post-ipsos-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/?p=1440","title":{"rendered":"Most Americans say AI is bad for society, oppose more data centers: ABC\/Post\/Ipsos poll"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
An aerial view of the 5C Data Centers CMH01, Oct. 18, 2026, in Springfield, Ohio. (Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A majority of Americans say artificial intelligence is a bad thing for society and about two-thirds oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., with opposition even higher to building data centers in people’s own communities, according to an ABC News\/Washington Post\/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos\u2019 KnowledgePanel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The poll finds that a 57% majority of Americans say AI is bad for society while 42% say it is good for society. Just 2% say it is “extremely” good for society while 17% say it is extremely bad for society.<\/p>\n

Tech leaders have issued warnings<\/a> about the threat of AI and called for steps to slow it down before it outsmarts humans. Following those warnings, lawmakers have weighed what — if any — action should be taken. President Donald Trump, who has called warnings about AI a “hoax,<\/a>” met with several tech leaders at the White House last month<\/a>, saying they signed a “constitution” to police themselves.<\/p>\n

Younger Americans are more likely to say AI is bad for society than older Americans: 65% of Americans under 30 say AI is bad for society along with 59% of those 30 to 39. A slimmer majority of Americans 40 and older say AI is bad for society (53%).<\/p>\n

Majorities of Democrats (63%) and independents (58%) say AI is bad for society, while Republicans are more evenly split with 51% saying AI is good for society and 47% saying it is bad for society.<\/p>\n

Still, Americans are more likely to say AI is good for them personally: 50% say AI is good for them and 49% say it is bad for them. Again, intensity lies with the pessimists. Five times as many people say it is extremely bad for them (15%) compared to extremely good (3%).<\/p>\n

A majority of Republicans (57%) say AI is personally good for them while a similar majority of Democrats say it\u2019s personally bad for them (55%). Independents are split on whether AI is good (50%) or bad (49%) for them personally.<\/p>\n

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Risks and benefits of AI<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Americans were asked about various potential risks with the growth of AI, majorities say that most of the possible consequences are a “high risk.”<\/p>\n

Nearly three-quarters of Americans, 73%, say there is a high risk of AI hacking secure computer systems, including majorities across partisan groups and age groups.<\/p>\n

About two-thirds of Americans, 65%, say there is a high risk of the growth of AI leading to the elimination of many jobs, including majorities across age, partisan and income groups.<\/p>\n

About 6 in 10 Americans, 62%, say there is a high risk of people losing the ability to make their own decisions without AI, including a larger majority of Americans under the age of 50 (67%). Majorities across partisan groups say there\u2019s a high risk of people losing the ability to make their own decisions without AI: 68% of Democrats, 63% of independents and 55% of Republicans.<\/p>\n

More than half of Americans, 54%, say there is a high risk of increasing economic inequality due to the growth of AI, including most Democrats (66%) and independents (57%) and just over a third of Republicans (36%). Similar majorities across income levels say there\u2019s a high risk of increased economic inequality with the growth of AI.<\/p>\n

One-third of Americans, 33%, say there is a high risk of human extinction due to the growth of AI — a smaller share than the other risks, but for the most dire of consequences. Democrats are more likely to say that the growth of AI will lead to a high risk of human extinction (40%) than Republicans (24%), with independents falling in between (34%).<\/p>\n

When it comes to the potential benefits of AI, smaller shares of Americans say there’s a big chance of each happening — although roughly the same share say there’s a big chance of AI making everyday tasks easier as say that there is a high risk of human extinction due to AI.<\/p>\n

About one-third of Americans, 34%, say that the growth of AI has a big chance of making everyday tasks easier. That includes a larger share of Republicans (42%) than independents (33%) or Democrats (29%).<\/p>\n

Three in 10 Americans (30%) say that the growth of AI has a big chance of leading to U.S. dominance in AI technology, including more Republicans (41%) than independents (27%) or Democrats (25%).<\/p>\n

Just 2 in 10 Americans (20%) say that the growth of AI has a big chance of making people more productive, including relatively small minorities across demographic groups; nearly twice as many say there is “little or no chance” of AI making people more productive (38%).<\/p>\n

And even fewer, 13% of Americans, say that the growth of AI has a big chance of creating many new jobs — just over half, 52%, say it has little or no chance of creating many new jobs. More Republicans (17%) than Democrats (9%) say that AI has a big chance of creating many new jobs, but even the share of Republicans saying this is quite small. Most Democrats (60%) and independents (54%) along with 42% of Republicans say AI has little or no chance of creating many new jobs.<\/p>\n

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Regulation and the administration<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of Americans say the federal government is not doing enough to regulate the growth and development of AI technology, including majorities of Democrats (80%), independents (66%) and Republicans (54%).<\/p>\n

Just 22% of Americans say the government is doing “about the right amount” to regulate AI.<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling AI; just 30% approve. Approval peaks among MAGA Republicans — who make up about 6 in 10 Republicans — 80% of whom approve. But approval falls to 49% among non-MAGA Republicans, 50% of whom disapprove. Wide majorities of Democrats (92%) and independents (75%) disapprove of how Trump is handling AI.<\/p>\n

Americans trust Democrats over Republicans to handle AI, 26% to 19%, but about half say they don\u2019t trust either party to handle AI (49%). In April, Americans were roughly split over trusting Democrats or Republicans more, with still about half saying they didn\u2019t trust either party.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building data centers<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of Americans (66%) oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., growing to 72% when asked about building a new data center in their community.<\/p>\n

Data centers are a key issue ahead of high-stakes midterm elections. Trump has stressed his strong support for them<\/a>, saying they can help enrich communities and assist in the United States\u2019 effort to defeat China in the global AI race.<\/p>\n

Majorities across partisan groups and virtually all other major demographic groups oppose a new data center in their community. That includes 81% of Democrats, 76% of independents and 58% of Republicans, along with 80% of adults under 30 and 69% of those 65 or older.<\/p>\n

Opposition is slightly higher in rural communities (78%), but 72% of suburbanites agree, along with 69% of urbanites, who are much less likely to face data center construction in their own backyards.<\/p>\n

All in all, there\u2019s also not much support for building more data centers nationally: Just 30% support them, peaking at 53% support among MAGA Republicans.<\/p>\n

See PDF for full results and detailed methodology.<\/a><\/p>\n

Methodology: This ABC News\/Washington Post\/Ipsos poll was conducted via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel Oct. 9-13, 2026, among 2,545 U.S. adults with an error margin of +\/- 2 points overall. Several questions were asked of a half sample of 1,271-1,274 adults with an error margin of +\/- 2.8 points. Other subgroups also have larger error margins.<\/em><\/p>\n

ABC News\u2019 Liz Schreier contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

Email ABCNEWS.Polls@abc.com<\/a> to be added to ABC News\u2019 polling distribution list.<\/em><\/p>\n

More ABC News polls can be found at <\/em>abcnews.com<\/em><\/a>. Media contacts: <\/em>Jeannie Kedas<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Van Scott<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Previous releases:<\/em><\/p>\n

About 6 in 10 Americans are confident the election will be conducted fairly and accurately: ABC\/Post\/Ipsos poll<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats lead Republicans in House vote choice as Trump\u2019s approval rating hits record low: ABC\/Post\/Ipsos poll<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Wide majority of Americans oppose livestreaming Nidal Hasan\u2019s execution: ABC\/Post\/Ipsos poll<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An aerial view of the 5C Data Centers CMH01, Oct. 18, 2026, in Springfield, Ohio. (Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images) A majority of Americans say artificial intelligence is a bad thing for society and about two-thirds oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., with opposition even higher to building data centers in people’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}