Americans are using AI more than ever while trusting it less, new Quinnipiac poll finds

A new Quinnipiac University poll reveals a growing paradox: AI adoption in the US is climbing fast, but skepticism is growing even faster. Gen Z, the generation most familiar with AI, has the bleakest outlook on the job market.

Quinnipiac University is a US-based polling institution known for its public opinion surveys. The AI survey, released just days ago, polled 1,397 randomly selected US adults by phone, including 800 employed adults. The margin of error is +/- 3.3 percentage points, according to Quinnipiac.

The results paint a clear picture: AI usage is rising fast, but trust, enthusiasm, and optimism aren't keeping up. If anything, the mood is souring.

AI adoption is surging, but trust stays flat

51 percent of respondents now use AI tools for research, up sharply from 37 percent in April 2025. Data analysis (27 percent, up from 17), image generation (24 percent, up from 16), and school or work projects (27 percent, up from 24) all saw gains too. 28 percent use AI to write text, and 20 percent seek medical advice from it. The share of people who have never used AI dropped from 33 to 27 percent.

At the same time, only 21 percent trust AI-generated information "most of the time" or "almost always." 76 percent say they can only trust AI information "sometimes" or "hardly ever." These numbers are virtually unchanged since April 2025.

"The contradiction between use and trust of AI is striking," says Chetan Jaiswal, associate professor of computer science at Quinnipiac University. "Americans are clearly adopting AI, but they are doing so with deep hesitation, not deep trust."

Most Americans now say AI does more harm than good

Only 35 percent of respondents say they're excited about AI, while 80 percent are concerned. 55 percent believe AI does more harm than good in daily life - up from 44 percent in April 2025. In education, 64 percent see more harm than benefit (up from 54 percent). Healthcare is more evenly split: 45 percent expect harm, 43 percent see benefit.

Concern cuts across every generation: Gen Z (78 percent), Millennials (81 percent), Gen X (79 percent), and Baby Boomers (82 percent). 51 percent say AI is advancing faster than expected.

Perhaps most telling: only 5 percent of respondents believe AI development is being driven by organizations that represent their interests. 47 percent explicitly say it is not.

Gen Z knows AI best and fears it most

70 percent of Americans believe AI advances will reduce the number of jobs available - up from 56 percent in April 2025. Gen Z is the most pessimistic: 81 percent of those born between 1997 and 2008 expect fewer job opportunities. Among Millennials, the figure is 71 percent, Gen X 67 percent, and Baby Boomers 66 percent.

"Younger Americans report the highest familiarity with AI tools, but they are also the least optimistic about the labor market. AI fluency and optimism here are moving in opposite directions," says Tamilla Triantoro, associate professor of business analytics at Quinnipiac University.

Paradoxically, Gen Z uses AI at work the least: only 21 percent of employed Gen Z members use AI professionally, compared to 37 percent of Millennials and 39 percent of Gen X. Overall, 32 percent of workers use AI on the job. The gap between college-educated workers (50 percent) and those without a degree (22 percent) is significant, as is the divide between white-collar employees (49 percent) and blue-collar workers (18 percent).

Workers also tend to worry more about the job market in general than about their own positions: 30 percent fear AI could make their job obsolete (up from 21 percent), while 69 percent say they're not personally concerned. "People seem more willing to predict a tougher market than to picture themselves on the losing end of that disruption - a pattern worth watching as the technology moves deeper into the workplace," Triantoro notes.

Four out of five reject AI as a boss

80 percent of respondents say they would not take a job where an AI program acts as their direct supervisor - assigning tasks and setting schedules. Only 15 percent would be open to it. Even among the youngest Gen Z respondents, rejection stands at 82 percent.

In healthcare, 81 percent prefer a combination of AI and a human doctor when evaluating medical scans, even if AI has been proven more accurate. 14 percent would rely solely on a human, and just 3 percent would trust AI alone.

"This desire for a 'second opinion' from a human being, even if proven they aren't as accurate as AI, reflects the lack of trust in AI that we see throughout the poll," says Brian O'Neill, associate professor of computer science at Quinnipiac University.

Americans want more regulation and transparency

74 percent say the government isn't doing enough to regulate AI (up from 69 percent). 76 percent say companies aren't transparent enough about how they use AI. When it comes to AI-generated content in political advertising, 38 percent want a complete ban and 45 percent want mandatory disclosure. Only 11 percent oppose any regulation.

AI data centers in local communities face broad opposition too: 65 percent are against them, 24 percent in favor. Opponents cite electricity costs (72 percent), water consumption (64 percent), and noise (41 percent). Supporters point to jobs (77 percent), tax revenue (53 percent), and tech hub potential (47 percent).

56 percent of Americans are confident they can tell a real video from an AI-generated one. At the same time, 28 percent admit they've unknowingly shared an AI-generated video. Among Gen Z, that number rises to 38 percent. "Americans are not rejecting AI outright, but they are sending a warning. Too much uncertainty, too little trust, too little regulation, and too much fear about jobs," Jaiswal sums up.