The artificial intelligence hype may still be going strong among the corporate overlords and venture capitalists of the world, who see the technology as a chance to cut payroll costs and juice profits. But surprisingly, despite decades of getting Americans to vote against their best interests, the AI pitch is not resonating with people outside of C-suites. According to new polling published by David Shor’s Blue Rose Research, AI is quickly becoming an important issue for voters, who see the proliferation of this technology as a risk to both the economy and society.
A big takeaway from the polling is that the pitch of trickle-down economics has largely fallen apart. When asked to choose between whether the federal government should provide “help for American workers who lose their jobs to AI” or create “incentives for American tech companies to keep innovating so that America outcompetes the rest of the world in developing AI, even if it allows tech companies to profit while eliminating jobs in the US,” the public overwhelmingly favored workers. Nearly 60% of all respondents—including 67% of people who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 and 50% of Trump voters—picked support for workers put out of work by AI.
A majority of people, 55% of all those surveyed, supported the statement “tech companies should not be able to make unlimited profits from AI and should be held financially responsible for American jobs that AI eliminates.” That’s nearly double the support that approved of the statement, “Tech companies should be able to profit as much as the free market will allow from new products, including the use of AI.”
Those statements resonate at a time when people are experiencing more economic insecurity. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said their life has gotten less affordable over the course of the past year, and just one in four are confident about their financial future. They’ve also identified corporations as the culprit. 64% of respondents said they believe things in America are “rigged for the elite,” and more than half backed the statement “Big corporations are raising prices unfairly.”
The populist position among the majority of respondents comes as AI gains prominence in what voters view as important issues. While it currently ranks 29th out of 39 total issues, it’s risen in importance more than any other topic over the past year. It has also surpassed typical hot-button issues like guns, climate change, child care, gas prices, and abortion in importance for most voters.
That growing concern is likely related to the fact that very few people believe the government currently has a plan to address the problem. Nearly four in five people surveyed said they are concerned about the government “not having a plan to protect workers from job losses driven by AI” and the fact that “Young people [are] entering the workforce and finding fewer job opportunities because of AI.” More than three in four said they are concerned about “entire industries being eliminated by AI” before alternatives become available.
The survey suggests politicians who pitch innovation or the status quo as it relates to AI aren’t going to resonate with most people. The message that “AI will create economic productivity that benefits everyone” has a net trust rating of -20 with respondents. Claims that “AI will not cause widespread job losses” fared even worse, with a net trust rating of -41.
AI is likely to be a major issue in the midterms and only grow in importance if it continues to go unaddressed by lawmakers and regulators. But it’s clear that Big Tech’s message of “innovation” is being read as a threat by the general public.
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