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Most Americans think artificial intelligence is advancing too quickly, and they want the government to focus on keeping AI under human control and protecting workers. An AP-NORC poll, reported by the Associated Press in October 2026, also finds that few people have confidence in either major political party to handle the issue.
How fast do Americans think AI is moving?
The clearest finding is that concern about pace outweighs enthusiasm. In the AP-NORC poll, as summarized by the Associated Press, respondents split on the speed of AI development this way:
- Too fast: 64% of U.S. adults
- About right: 27%
- Too slow: 8%
Because these figures describe adults nationally, they show the overall direction of opinion rather than a precise measure within any single group. Group differences are covered below.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhat the public wants government to prioritize
Asked how important various government goals are for AI, respondents gave the strongest support to two protections. About eight in ten adults said ensuring AI stays under human control and protecting the workforce are each extremely or very important. The remaining priorities drew lower but still substantial support, as the table shows.
#1 Best Overall
| Government priority | Reported level of support |
|---|---|
| Keeping AI under human control | About 8 in 10 say extremely or very important |
| Protecting the workforce | About 8 in 10 say extremely or very important |
| Minimizing environmental harm | Most adults favor it; exact share not stated |
| Growing the economy | Most adults favor it; exact share not stated |
| Promoting innovation | About half say highly important |
| Competing with China | Slightly fewer than say highly important for promoting innovation; exact share not stated |
The Associated Press summary uses approximate wording for the middle and lower priorities, so treat those descriptions as directional rather than exact percentages.
Where Democrats and Republicans agree and differ
Partisanship shapes the emphasis more than the core concerns. The poll reports these comparisons:
Rank #2
- Shared ground: Democrats and Republicans largely agree on protecting workers and keeping AI under human control.
- Speed: About three-quarters of Democrats say AI is developing too fast, compared with about half of Republicans.
- Economic growth and China: Republicans are more likely than Democrats to prioritize economic growth and competition with countries such as China.
- Environmental harm: Democrats are more likely to prioritize minimizing environmental harm.
Age and confidence in the parties
Younger adults are more worried about the pace of AI than older adults. According to the report, adults under 30 express greater concern about AI’s speed than adults 60 and older. The report does not supply exact percentages for each age group.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Trust in the parties on AI is limited. About four in ten adults say they trust neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party on the issue. Among party identifiers, about half believe their own party is better equipped to handle AI, while roughly three in ten in each group say neither party is. The overall distribution also includes a smaller group that trusts both parties equally.
Approval of the president’s approach is also low on this issue: 67% of adults disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of AI.
What individual respondents said
The Associated Press story includes comments from named respondents. These are individual opinions that illustrate concerns; they are not poll results or expert assessments. Quotations are reproduced exactly as published.
- Stephanie Stewart, a 53-year-old junior-high science teacher in Sunset, Utah, on the president’s approach to regulation: “There is no handling of the issue except for we’re just going to allow these companies to do whatever they want, and we’re not going to regulate them.”
- Ron Theusch, a 58-year-old truck driver in rural Alden, Minnesota, on job displacement: “I can just see a train of self-driving trucks 24/7, just running up and down I-35, loading and unloading. I can just see that happening.”
- Stephanie Stewart, on children and privacy: “You’ve got to protect kids. You’ve got to protect teens. You’ve got to protect privacy … we need to try to do something.”
The report does not include a quotation from a named pollster, regulator, standards body, or AI company spokesperson.
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How the poll was conducted and what it cannot tell you
AP-NORC interviewed 2,140 adults between September 24 and 28, 2026. The sample was drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel and is designed to represent the U.S. adult population. The margin of sampling error for all adults is ±2.9 percentage points.
Best Value
The figures above come from the Associated Press report as carried by Fast Company on October 8, 2026. That article is a news summary, so the full questionnaire, exact item wording for every measure, weighting details, subgroup sample sizes, and complete crosstabs are not available in it. Where the summary says “about,” “roughly,” or “slightly fewer,” those approximations should be carried forward as written. Readers who need exact subgroup figures will need the full AP-NORC release or data tables.
The poll is a snapshot of late September 2026. Attitudes toward AI are changing quickly, so it is best read as a measure of opinion at that time.
Quick Recap
- Use the overall figures for national opinion, not for any state or local area.
- Use the individual quotations to illustrate concerns, not to estimate how common those views are.
- Use the party and age comparisons as reported directionally unless exact numbers are published.
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