Poll shows Americans are increasingly alarmed by AI’s ecological footprint

A new survey of adults in the United States finds that more than half worry about artificial intelligence ’s environmental impact, up 12 percentage points from last year. The poll, a joint effort by The Associated Press, the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, indicated that Americans dread AI’s carbon footprint far more than high-emission giants like meat production and aviation. Released on Wednesday, data from interviews with 3,424 US adults in August show that 53 per cent of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about artificial intelligence’s environmental impacts. The increased wariness marks an upward trend from the 41 percent recorded last year.