A new Pew Research Centre survey of 25 countries finds that people are generally more concerned than excited about the growing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in daily life.
A median of 34% say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI, while 42% are equally concerned and excited and 16% are more excited than concerned.
Worry is most prevalent in the US, Italy, Australia, Brazil and Greece, where about half of adults are mainly concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life.
In no country surveyed is the largest share mainly excited.
Awareness of AI varies widely: A median of 34% of adults say they have heard or read a lot about this technology, while 47% have heard a little and 14% have heard nothing at all.
Across all 25 countries included in the survey, most people have heard at least a little about AI, though the share of those who have heard a lot varies from as many as 53% in Japan to as few as 12% in Kenya.
People in wealthier countries tend to be more likely than those in less wealthy countries to have heard or read a lot about AI.
Additional findings include the following:
Trust in governments to regulate AI
- A median of 55% of adults across 25 countries have at least some trust in their own country to regulate AI effectively, compared with a median of 32% who do not. Trust is highest in India (89%), Indonesia (74%) and Israel (72%), and lowest in Greece (22%).
- A median of 53% trust the European Union to regulate AI effectively. Across the nine EU member nations surveyed, 54% trust the organisation to regulate AI; 48% across the non-EU countries surveyed say the same. Among these EU members, confidence in the EU is highest in Germany and the Netherlands and lowest in Greece and Italy.
- Fewer than half of adults across the countries surveyed trust the US (37% median) or China (27% median) to regulate AI effectively.
Demographic divides in awareness of and concern about AI
- Young adults, men, people with more education, and frequent Internet users are generally more aware of and more enthusiastic about AI. Older adults, women, and people with less education tend to express greater concern.
Political and ideological patterns
- In the US and several other countries, political affiliation and ideology influence views of AI regulation. For instance, a majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (54%) trust their government to regulate AI effectively, compared with 36% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
- There is stronger trust in the US as an AI regulator among people on the ideological right and among Europeans who support right-leaning populist parties. Populist party supporters are also less likely than nonsupporters to trust the EU on this matter.
There is stronger trust in China as an AI regulator among younger adults than older adults in 19 countries surveyed.
The Pew Research Centre report was based on nationally representative surveys of 28 333 adults conducted between 8 January and 26 April 2025, across 24 countries, along with two US surveys of 3,605 adults (24 to 30 March) and 5 023 adults (9 to 15 June 2025).