The from the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California also showed that two-thirds of respondents say they aren鈥檛 concerned AI will lead their employers to cut their jobs or hours. Almost all of them were familiar with it.
Tina Park 鈥� a researcher at the Partnership for AI, a nonprofit that advocates for ethical use of AI 鈥� said that鈥檚 not surprising. She has found that people鈥檚 familiarity with the technology has increased as chatbots have become more popular. It鈥檚 also been in some major news stories over the last few years.
鈥淭he Hollywood strikes that were happening with SAG-AFTRA and the Writer鈥檚 Guild also helped bring a lot of attention and awareness to like, this is really cool technology, but it can actually do some things that make us really, deeply uncomfortable,鈥� she said.
Two-thirds of the people surveyed by PPIC also said they鈥檙e not worried about their jobs or hours being cut because of AI. But half of employed people surveyed say they think it will impact jobs in general. Park says she often talks to people with other job-related concerns.
鈥淚 think people are starting to think a little bit more deeply beyond automation, but also surveillance in the workplace,鈥� she said.
Still, Park said she feels good about the numbers in the survey.
鈥淭hat sort鈥檝e nuanced understanding, I think, is something that鈥檚 shifted a bit that I'm really excited about because I think that helps us have better and more interesting conversations,鈥� she added.
She said these numbers overall show that many people are skeptical of the technology, but not completely disinterested in it.
鈥淎ll of this is sort of an invitation to the legislators to dive into some of that nuance,鈥� she said.
San Francisco Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener authored one of the most prominent bills on AI in the last legislative session. would have put new regulations on companies developing AI, but was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Wiener said the current level of public skepticism should prompt lawmakers to regulate it now.
鈥淚f something bad happens, something big happens that is really harmful, we will see a backlash and then we could see very problematic regulation that harms innovation,鈥� he said.
The California Legislative Analyst鈥檚 Office that stock pay at four major tech companies made up nearly 10% of the state鈥檚 income tax revenue. Enthusiasm about AI helped those companies do well in the stock market.
Copyright 2024 CapRadio