ESPONSIBLE AI
Is AI weakening creativity, human connections?
AI may be growing increasingly prevalent in daily life, but concerns remain as to its effect on our minds and relationships.
A new Pew Research Center report surveyed more than 5,000 adults in the U.S. and found that a significant majority are more concerned than excited about the rise of AI.
The most common concern: weakening human skills and connections.
Findings show that:
- 53% of Americans believe AI will worsen people’s ability to think creatively
- 50% believe AI will erode people’s ability to form meaningful relationships
- Only 10% said they’re more excited than concerned about AI’s use.
Younger adults were particularly skeptical, with 61% of those under 30 stating that AI would impact people's creativity and 58% noting that it would affect relationships.
The inability to develop crucial skills such as curiosity and problem-solving, as well as lagging regulatory standards, were also highlighted.
“The technology will advance rapidly and outpace our ability to anticipate outcomes. It will therefore be extremely difficult to implement and deploy risk management strategies, plans, policies and legislation to mitigate the upheaval that AI has the real potential to unleash on every member of our society.”
Survey respondent
Despite this overall cynicism, three-quarters of respondents still said they would use AI for daily tasks as long as it was for analytical rather than personal matters.
Many also welcomed its efficiency gains, with 41% of those who rated AI's benefits highly highlighting time savings as a key benefit.
“AI… it allows us to save something we can never get back: time,” one respondent said.
The findings show a clear message: Americans are generally open to AI for practical use cases, but uneasy about it replacing what makes us human.
As one respondent noted: “as annoying and troublesome as hardships and obstacles can be, I believe the experience of encountering these things and overcoming them is essential to forming our character.”