In short
- Nearly half of Americans expect AI to cure disease, but job loss is the biggest fear in all political, academic, and international circles.
- Trust in AI companies is extremely low – only 15% of Americans trust them to make decisions about AI development, let alone the federal government.
- Support for government regulation of AI is broad and bipartisan, with more than 70% of Americans favoring regulation, particularly in the areas of privacy, child safety, and corporate responsibility.
Sweeping new research and Anthropic-the Claude the designer that recently archived for public viewing-found that Americans have very conflicted views on artificial intelligence: They want to be able to cure diseases and change their lives, but they are also very worried about the economic and social disruption it could cause, and they are very suspicious of the companies that build them.
The survey, which Anthropic calls “Public Record,” garnered responses from nearly 52,000 Americans by the end of 2025, making it one of the largest global polls on AI opinion to date.
Job loss was seen as the biggest fear, with 64% of respondents expressing concern about AI-driven displacement – a concern that was the top fear among Democrats and Republicans, and in every state polled. In particular, concern was high among the educated American public, whose jobs are closely related to what AI is being asked to do.
On the positive side, nearly half of Americans said curing diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s ranked among their top three aspirations for AI, followed by helping people with disabilities at 36%. In particular, the hope that AI can replace human communication – such as providing support or reducing loneliness – was the lowest among the options presented.
Even so, the confidence in the industry is not very low. Only 15% of respondents said they trust AI companies to decide how the technology is developed and used—lower than the federal government, state-by-state, and international organizations, and below independent experts at 43%.
Public interest in government oversight is broad and bipartisan. More than 70% of respondents said the government should play a role in regulating AI, with support ranging from 79% among Democrats to 68% among Republicans. Americans were more eager for government action on privacy, child safety, and corporate responsibility for harm.
Anthropic said it plans to repeat the study regularly and expand beyond the United States.
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