AI trust gap widens
Stanford HAI’s 2026 AI Index finds AI researchers are broadly optimistic about AI’s progress while broader public sentiment is far more cautious. (kqed.org) A Gallup-backed poll reported more workers experimenting with AI but many still choosing not to use it at work. (apnews.com)
A new Stanford report finds a widening split on artificial intelligence: researchers see gains ahead, while many Americans still expect job losses and weak oversight. (hai.stanford.edu) Stanford’s 2026 Artificial Intelligence Index, released April 13, says 73% of experts expect artificial intelligence to help how people do their jobs, compared with 23% of the United States public. On medical care, the gap is 84% to 44%; on the economy, 69% to 21%. (hai.stanford.edu) The same chapter says 64% of Americans expect artificial intelligence to mean fewer jobs over the next 20 years, while 5% expect more jobs. Experts were less pessimistic: 39% said fewer jobs, and 19% said more. (hai.stanford.edu) The report arrives as artificial intelligence moves from lab demos into offices, schools, clinics and legislatures. Stanford says generative artificial intelligence reached nearly 53% population-level adoption within three years, faster than the personal computer or the internet. (hai.stanford.edu) Public caution is not limited to jobs. Stanford says the United States had the lowest trust in its own government to regulate artificial intelligence responsibly among countries surveyed, at 31%, versus a 54% global average. (hai.stanford.edu) That skepticism also shows up at work. A Gallup poll conducted in February 2026 found roughly 3 in 10 employees use artificial intelligence on the job daily or a few times a week, about 2 in 10 use it only a few times a month or year, and about half use it once a year or not at all. (abcnews.com; gallup.com) Gallup found about 4 in 10 workers said their organization had adopted artificial intelligence tools to improve operations. Among workers at those organizations, about two-thirds said the tools had at least a somewhat positive effect on their own productivity and efficiency. (abcnews.com; gallup.com) The gains are uneven across jobs. About 7 in 10 leaders who use artificial intelligence at least a few times a year said it made them more efficient, compared with just over half of individual contributors, and workers in management, health care and technology reported larger benefits than workers in service jobs. (abcnews.com) Workers who avoid the tools gave concrete reasons: some said they prefer to work without them, some cited ethical objections, and some worried about data privacy. In interviews with The Associated Press, a Virginia social worker said he uses artificial intelligence to find care resources but also fears replacement, while a Louisiana labor lawyer said she uses ChatGPT to draft diplomatic emails. (abcnews.com) Stanford’s broader conclusion is that the technology is advancing faster than the systems around it. The result is a labor market where adoption is rising, output gains are real for some workers, and trust still lags behind use. (hai.stanford.edu; hai.stanford.edu)
