The U.S. Public Wants Regulation (or Prohibition) of Expert‑Level and Superhuman AI
View original at futureoflife.orgFuture of Life Institute - Ai Safety Title: The U.S. Public Wants Regulation (or Prohibition) of Expert‑Level and Superhuman AI Date: 2025-10-19 19:08 Source: https://futureoflife.org/recent-news/americans-want-regulation-or-prohibition-of-superhuman-ai/ <p>A new national survey of 2,000 U.S…
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Two-thirds (69%) of surveyed Americans trust AI researchers at universities and non-profits, and international bodies most for AI safety guidance.
80% confidenceThere is a clear disconnect between the stated mission of leading AI companies and the wishes of the American public.
80% confidenceAI companies and their leadership score significantly lower than scientific institutions in public trust for AI safety guidance.
80% confidenceOne-third (37%) of adults are concerned that AI could cause the end of the human race on earth.
80% confidenceA majority of adults (57%) are not bought in to the development of expert-level AI under current conditions; 17% feel it should never be developed and 40% feel it should be halted until proven controllable and safe.
80% confidence49% of surveyed Americans expect superhuman AI to be developed within 5 years.
80% confidenceAlmost two-thirds (64%) of surveyed Americans feel that superhuman AI should not be developed until it is proven safe and controllable, or should never be developed.
80% confidence49% of surveyed Americans think expert-level AI will be developed within 2 years.
80% confidenceInternational scientific organizations ranked first among entities the public believes should determine the trajectory of advanced AI, with national government agencies a close second.
80% confidenceTop reasons cited for not developing advanced AI centered around human extinction or enfeeblement and concentration of power.
80% confidenceThree-quarters (74%) of adults are concerned about the possibility of AI resulting in the concentration of power in technology companies.
80% confidence73% of surveyed Americans support slow, heavily regulated AI development, approximately matching the proportion wanting pharmaceutical-style regulation with extensive testing before deployment.
80% confidence40% of Americans think AI will have a negative impact on society, and only 29% expect it to have a positive impact.
80% confidenceThis is the first public large-scale survey specifically addressing U.S. public attitudes toward the development of advanced AI systems of the type referred to as AGI and superintelligence.
80% confidenceRespondents with higher AI knowledge tend to appreciate both upsides and downsides of advanced AI and demand tighter safeguards.
80% confidenceAlmost half (44%) of Americans think AI will do more harm than good, while only 38% think the opposite.
80% confidence69% of Americans think the government is not doing enough to regulate the use of AI.
80% confidenceTwo-thirds (64%) of surveyed adults would like to see an immediate pause on the development of advanced AI until the technology is proven to be safe.
80% confidenceTwo-thirds of adults worry that advanced AI is likely (61% or greater chance) to cause significant harm to humanity if developed without proper safeguards.
80% confidenceAround half of respondents expect that advanced AI will be developed quickly with minimal safeguards, despite not wanting this outcome.
80% confidenceThere is overwhelming support (73%) for robust regulation on AI among surveyed Americans, with only 12% opposed to strong regulation.
80% confidenceA majority of adults (59%) have little or no confidence in US companies to develop and use AI responsibly.
80% confidenceTop reasons supporting development of advanced AI included solving major social and scientific challenges and creating abundance.
80% confidenceOnly 5% of surveyed Americans support the status quo of fast, unregulated AI development.
80% confidenceOpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Google, Meta, and others have openly declared they are racing to expert-level or superhuman AI, while many actively hamper efforts to create meaningful guardrails.
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