Many Countries Are Optimistic About A.I., Poll Finds

A Gallup poll that surveyed at least 1,000 adults in each of 37 countries found that a majority of respondents expressed curiosity or excitement about artificial intelligence, outweighing feelings of fear or worry. The questionnaire, conducted in partnership with a technology firm, asked participants to indicate whether they felt positive emotions such as curiosity, happiness or excitement, or negative emotions such as worry, sadness or anger toward AI.

Across the sample, an average of 72 percent of respondents reported positive feelings about AI, while 41 percent indicated negative emotions. In 34 of the 37 nations surveyed, the share of positive responses exceeded the share of negative ones, making this one of the most comprehensive snapshots of public sentiment toward the technology to date.

The poll highlighted particularly strong optimism in several Asian nations. More than 90 percent of those surveyed in China and Vietnam said they believed AI would mostly improve daily life. In Nigeria, Israel and Singapore, over two‑thirds of respondents shared a similarly positive outlook.

By contrast, only 36 percent of participants in the United States viewed AI as primarily beneficial rather than harmful. The seven Western high‑income countries included in the study – the United States, Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Malta and the Netherlands – accounted for the highest levels of concern, with the United States ranking at the top of that group.

The findings illustrate wide margins between hope and fear, suggesting that public attitudes toward AI vary considerably by region and economic context. The poll’s breadth and the size of its national samples were noted as contributing to its detailed portrait of emotional responses to the emerging technology.

Gallup plans to extend the survey to a total of 140 countries in future rounds, aiming to track how attitudes evolve as AI becomes more integrated into everyday life.