Stevens research reveals Americans' fears and concerns about AI

A new report from Stevens Institute of Technology finds that Americans believe artificial intelligence is a threat to democracy, will be smarter than humans and overtake jobs. They also believe the benefits of AI outweigh its risks. That's according to the Hoboken-based institution's TechPulse Report: A Perspective on Americans' Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence, almost half (48%) of Americans feel the positives of greater AI adoption in everyday life outweigh the negatives, while 29% believe the opposite. A majority also holds the opinion that, in the future, AI should play a greater role in a variety of industries, including technology (66%), manufacturing (61%), logistics (58%) and retail (52%). Despite that enthusiasm, people are far more comfortable with humans, rather than AI, being in charge of performing most jobs and, in general, express a good deal of apprehension and mistrust of the technology.