Pew Research Center compared how the American public and AI experts view artificial intelligence and its future impact. The study found a stark divergence in optimism and understanding. A majority of AI experts (56%) believe AI will have a very or somewhat positive effect on the United States over the next 20 years, while only 17% of the general public share this view. The gap reflects both differences in technical knowledge and asymmetric understanding of AI’s capabilities and risks between informed specialists and the general population.
Published by: Pew Research Center (nonpartisan polling and research organisation)
Key finding: 56% of AI experts believe AI will be positive for the US over the next 20 years, compared to 17% of the general public; the 39-point gap represents a fundamental divergence in assessment of AI’s trajectory.
Context: This gap signals a critical knowledge divide shaping policy perception and personal decision-making. Citizens without AI literacy cannot evaluate expert claims critically, leaving public discourse vulnerable to both uninformed pessimism and poor policy preferences. The inability of the general public to understand or assess expert opinion on a technology increasingly central to employment, education, and governance creates conditions for policy capture and public disempowerment.