I love AI. Why doesn't everyone?

New technologies almost always create lots of problems and challenges for our society. The invention of farming caused local overpopulation. Industrial technology caused pollution. Nuclear technology enabled superweapons capable of destroying civilization. New media technologies arguably cause social unrest and turmoil whenever they’re introduced.

And yet how many of these technologies can you honestly say you wish were never invented? Some people romanticize hunter-gatherers and medieval peasants, but I don’t see many of them rushing to go live those lifestyles. I myself buy into the argument that smartphone-enabled social media is largely responsible for a variety of modern social ills, but I’ve always maintained that eventually, our social institutions will evolve in ways that minimize the harms and enhance the benefits. In general, when we look at the past, we understand that technology has almost always made things better for humanity, especially over the long haul.

But when we think about the technologies now being invented, we often forget this lesson — or at least, many of us do. In the U.S., there have recently been movements against mRNA vaccines, electric cars, self-driving cars, smartphones, social media, nuclear power, and solar and wind power, with varying degrees of success.

The difference between our views of old and new technologies isn’t necessarily irrational. Old technologies present less risk — we basically know what effect they’ll have on society as a whole, and on our own personal economic opportunities. New technologies are disruptive in ways we can’t predict, and it makes sense to be worried about that risk that we might personally end up on the losing end of the upcoming social and economic changes.

But that still doesn’t explain changes in our attitudes toward technology over time. Americans largely embraced the internet, the computer, the TV, air travel, the automobile, and industrial automation. And risk doesn’t explain all of the differences in attitudes among countries.

In the U.S., few technologies have been on the receiving end of as much popular fear and hatred as generative AI. Although policymakers have remained staunchly in favor of the technology — probably because it’s supporting the stock market and the economy — regular Americans of both parties tend to say they’re more concerned than excited, with an especially rapid increase in negative sentiment among progressives.

There is plenty of trepidation about AI around the world, but America stands out. A