P(doom) Versus AI Optimism: Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence and the Factors That Shape Them

Since the public release of ChatGPT in 2022, fears about the large-scale impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) have been on the rise. Extreme negative attitudes toward AI have been dubbed “p(doom),” or the probability that AI will take over the world. Despite news stories highlighting the most extreme views about AI’s impacts, it remains unclear whether the general population holds such views. Do people believe that AI is very bad, that AI will take over the world, or that AI will replace people? How prevalent are these worries, and what factors influence fears and hopes about these new AI technologies? In this study, we investigated perceptions and attitudes toward AI’s impact on the self and on society in the USA. We studied how those perceptions and attitudes were affected by a brief exposure to a popular conversational chatbot. We also studied how perceptions of AI related to individual differences in Affinity for Technology Interaction (ATI), personality traits, social and mental health, and demographics. Our results suggest that most people disagree with p(doom) sentiments and instead hold more optimistic views toward AI. Further, people with higher reported social health, high Agreeableness, less Neuroticism, less Loneliness, and more familiarity with technology as measured by ATI tended to have more favorable views toward AI’s large-scale impact. Our findings shed light on the current state of the US public’s fears and perceptions of AI.