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Pew Research AI Survey 2025
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4/5
High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
Rating inherited from publication venue: Pew Research Center
Useful for understanding the gap between expert and public perception of AI risks and governance needs; relevant for researchers and policymakers working on AI communication, public trust, and regulatory design.
Metadata
Importance: 52/100organizational reportdataset
Summary
A large-scale Pew Research Center survey comparing AI experts' and U.S. public attitudes toward AI's risks, opportunities, and regulation. The study reveals significant gaps between expert and public sentiment, with experts generally more optimistic while the public expresses greater concern. Key topics include AI's societal impact, desired regulatory frameworks, and expectations about AI's transformative potential.
Key Points
- •AI experts tend to be more excited and optimistic about AI's potential benefits than the general U.S. public, who lean more toward concern.
- •Both experts and the public broadly support some form of AI regulation, though they differ on scope, urgency, and preferred mechanisms.
- •The public shows heightened concern about AI's effects on employment, privacy, and misinformation compared to expert respondents.
- •Experts are more likely to anticipate major positive breakthroughs (e.g., medical, scientific) from AI within the next decade.
- •The survey highlights a significant knowledge and perception gap between AI-informed communities and the broader public on key safety and governance issues.
Review
The Pew Research AI Survey 2025 provides a nuanced exploration of the growing divide between AI experts and the general public regarding artificial intelligence's potential and challenges. While AI experts are significantly more optimistic, with 47% being more excited than concerned about AI's increased use, only 11% of U.S. adults share this sentiment. Conversely, 51% of the public express more concern than excitement about AI's development. The survey delves into critical areas of divergence, including job displacement, human connection, and AI's potential to outperform humans in various tasks. Notably, experts are more confident in AI's capabilities, with 51% believing AI could drive better than humans, compared to just 19% of the public. The research also highlights important concerns about representation, bias, and the need for responsible AI development, with both experts and the public calling for more diverse perspectives in AI design and robust government regulation.
Cited by 2 pages
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Societal Response & Adaptation Model | Analysis | 57.0 |
| AI Risk Public Education | Approach | 51.0 |
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AI risks, opportunities, regulation: Views of US public and AI experts | Pew Research Center
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April 3, 2025
How the U.S. Public and AI Experts View Artificial Intelligence
2. Views of risks, opportunities and regulation of AI
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By Colleen McClain , Brian Kennedy , Jeffrey Gottfried , Monica Anderson and Giancarlo Pasquini
Table of Contents
How the U.S. Public and AI Experts View Artificial Intelligence
1. Artificial intelligence in daily life: Views and experiences
2. Views of risks, opportunities and regulation of AI
3. Public and expert predictions for AI’s next 20 years
Acknowledgments
Methodology
Appendix A: Demographic makeup of AI experts surveyed
Appendix B: Selected tables by expert and public demographics
As the role of artificial intelligence in daily life grows, its challenges and opportunities are front and center for experts and the public alike.
This chapter covers where experts and the American public differ in their excitement and worries, as well as where they think AI might surpass humans. It also walks through the areas of agreement, such as on government regulation, corporate responsibility, and concerns about AI bias and misinformation.
Concern and excitement over AI
AI experts are far more enthusiastic than the American public about the increased use of AI in daily life. The public, on the other hand, expresses far more concern. Roughly half of the experts surveyed say they are more excited than concerned (47%) about the increased use of AI in daily life. By contrast, only 11% of U.S. adults say this.
About half of U.S. adults (51%) say they are more concerned than excited. This drops dramatically to 15% among the experts surveyed.
What’s more, the U.S. public has become more concerned over recent years. The share who say they are more concerned than excited increased from about four-in-ten in 2021 and 2022 to roughly half in 2023 .
Today, identical shares of both groups say that they are equally concerned and excited (38% each).
By gender, among AI experts surveyed and U.S. adults
Among both the public and AI experts, men are more excited than women about the increased use of AI in daily life. The gender difference on excitement is wider among AI experts, though.
AI experts: A far greater share of men than women say they are more excited than concerned (53
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