Threats from artificial intelligence trigger concern among Americans

Artificial intelligence is here to stay. More and more aspects of life and work are affected by AI, and this worries Americans. This was revealed by a Pew Research survey that ensures that 52% of Americans are "more concerned than excited" about the increasing use of this technology in their daily lives. Only 10% say they are "more excited than concerned," while 36% say they feel an "equal mix of these emotions."

The survey draws attention to how concern has been growing among citizens about AI over the past year. In 2022, 38% were "more concerned than excited." Twelve months later, that sentiment has grown by more than ten percentage points.

This increase occurs in the midst of several problems associated with the use of this technology that affect citizens' day-to-day lives. An example of this is how AI impacts daily work. According to a survey conducted by the same institution, the Hispanic community is the group least affected by the arrival of this technology. This is because, the study points out, they are the ethnic group least "exposed" to AI, with it affecting just 13% of Hispanic Americans.

The jobs most affected by AI

On the labor market, says Pew Research, AI could easily replace jobs that require human thinking. Tasks that have to do with "processing information," "thinking creatively" or "working with computers" would be the most replaceable.

There are jobs where AI has already had an effect. The double strike carried out by screenwriters and actors in Hollywood has largely focused on the use of artificial intelligence, since it is not regulated and puts these two groups' jobs at risk.

They are not the only ones. This technology is constantly reaching other sectors. A report by the University of Pennsylvania said that the professions most affected would be those of the mathematicians, tax consultants, writers, journalists, secretaries, auditors and accountants. Much of their day-to-day work can be passed off to artificial intelligence and, therefore, be replaced in the future.

The Senate to evaluate the use of artificial intelligence

With all this context, Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, sent a letter to his colleagues in early June assuring that it was necessary to create a forum to analyze an issue that "is changing our world":

After several attempts, Schumer managed to close a series of meetings in a forum in which several technology magnates will participate, such as X (Twitter) CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. They won't be the only ones. The first meeting, which will be held on Sept. 13 at the Capitol, will also be attended by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Sundar Pichai of Alphabet (Google); Sam Altman from OpenAI; and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will also attend.

The goal is to create legislation on artificial intelligence by the end of the year and, in this way, alleviate Americans' concern about this potentially threatening technology.