Policy
Polls find Americans wary of AI's risk to humanity and its environmental toll
Two surveys released Sept. 16 point to broad public unease about AI. A POLITICO poll found 63% of U.S. adults see at least a moderate risk that AI could destroy humanity and 48% favor pausing development, while an AP-NORC poll found 53% highly concerned about AI's environmental impact.
London-based Public First surveyed 2,064 U.S. adults for POLITICO from Sept. 13 to 15, with a margin of error of about 2.2 percentage points. According to Anadolu Agency's account of the results, 17% of respondents called AI-driven destruction almost certain, 20% saw a significant risk and 26% a moderate one. Thirty-one percent preferred that development continue. A pause drew support from 58% of 2024 Kamala Harris voters and 44% of Donald Trump voters. Half of respondents thought AI leaders sincerely believe their warnings, while 26% viewed them as marketing.
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute interviewed 3,424 adults; the center lists the fieldwork as July 7-24. The share extremely or very concerned about AI's environmental effects rose from 41% in 2025 and reached 60% among adults under 30. Forty-seven percent expect AI to do more to hurt than help the environment, up from 33%. About two-thirds of Democrats, half of independents and four in 10 Republicans expressed high concern, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Associated Press. Most respondents supported requiring data centers to pay for grid upgrades.
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