As more Americans adopt AI tools, fewer say they can trust the results

Americans are turning to artificial intelligence to help with things like research, writing, schools or jobs, and data analysis – but they’re not really happy about it.

Despite the growing use of AI, Americans continue to distrust the new technology, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll published on Monday. Of the nearly 1,400 Americans surveyed, more than three-thirds said they don’t trust AI — 76% say they trust it often or sometimes, compared to just 21% who trust it a lot or almost always.

This comes despite the increasing number of Americans adopting AI in their daily lives; Only 27% said they have never used AI tools, down from 33% in April 2025.

“The tension between using and trusting AI is striking,” said Chetan Jaiswal, a professor of computer science at Quinnipiac. “Sixty percent of people say they use AI for research, and many also use it for writing, applications, and data analysis. But only 21 percent trust AI-generated information most or almost all of the time.

Part of that lack of confidence may come from fears about the future AI will bring. The survey found that only 6% were “very happy” with AI while 62% were either not happy or not at all happy. The numbers change when we talk about anxiety: 80% are either worried or concerned about AI, Millennials and Baby Boomers are taking on the most worrying mantle, with Gen Z following not far behind.

A strong half (55%) say AI will do more harm than good in their daily lives, while a third say AI will do more good than harm, according to the survey. More people have negative views about AI compared to last year’s survey, according to the researchers – which may not be surprising after the year of Big Tech’s elimination, end of life. The phenomenon of AI psychosisand a data-grid-straining data center.

Americans across the country oppose the construction of AI data centers in their communities, with 65% saying they would not want them built, especially in light of rising electricity and water usage costs.

A majority (70%) think that advances in AI will reduce the number of job opportunities, while only 7% think that AI will bring more opportunities. That’s a change from 56% of Americans who last year thought AI advances would lead to job losses and 13% who thought AI would increase job opportunities. Members of Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2008, are the most pessimistic, with 81% predicting a decline in employment.

They’re not exactly imagining it, though. The initial job postings in the US have plunged 35% from 2023, and AI leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei are involved he warned that technology will eliminate jobs.

“Young Americans report being very familiar with AI tools, but they also have low expectations for the job market,” Tamilla Triantoro, a professor of business analytics and information systems at Quinnipiac, said in a statement. “AI’s rhetoric and optimism are now moving in the opposite direction.”

Interestingly, while many Americans are worried about the impact of AI on the job market as a whole, many don’t think it’s coming to their jobs. Among employed Americans, 30% are concerned that AI will make their jobs obsolete. However, this is up from 21% last year.

“Americans are more concerned about what AI will do to the job market than what it will do to their jobs,” Triantoro said. “People seem to be more willing to predict a tougher market than to see the end of the recession for themselves – the right way to look as technology moves deeper into the workforce,” he said.

Perhaps the biggest reason Americans have trouble trusting AI is because they don’t trust the companies behind the technology to tell the truth. Two-thirds of respondents said businesses are not doing enough to demonstrate how they are using AI. The same section also says that the government is not doing enough to regulate AI. The proposals come as countries push for more AI regulation, even for government officials — including Trump’s latest, in particular. light-touch AI framework – and industry leaders advocate for less government regulation.

“The American people are not rejecting AI directly, but they are sending a warning,” Triantoro said. “More uncertainty, less trust, less regulation, and more fear of work.”