Around the globe, people are incorporating AI into their daily routines at a growing rate—whether it's finding recipes, completing school assignments, tackling work research, or building presentations. Yet frequent use doesn't automatically signal comfort with the technology's broader consequences. A new Gallup survey reveals that roughly 68% of Americans who interact with AI every day harbor worries about it, and among those who use it less often, concern runs even higher. These results arrive amid heated discussions about AI's risks, rapid shifts in AI safety efforts, fears of AI behaving unpredictably, and allegations of anti-competitive practices—findings that challenge the assumption that adoption rates alone reflect public enthusiasm for AI.

Commissioned by Microsoft, the Gallup study has gathered data from 37 countries so far, with roughly 1,000 respondents polled per country between April and July. Eventually, the project will cover 140 countries. It's worth noting that India—home to a vast population of tech users—is absent from the currently reported results, as are Australia and Malaysia.

The data positions the U.S. at the anxious extreme of an international spectrum, even as people elsewhere anticipate that the technology will enhance their lives. Gallup reports that Western nations express the most concern about AI, with the United States topping the list—74% of Americans reported feeling worried, and merely 36% believe AI will mostly benefit the country. Other affluent Western countries displayed a comparable pattern of relatively high usage paired with concern. In Canada, for instance, 29% of respondents said they used AI daily, and among that group, over half voiced concerns about the technology's impact. On the whole, 64% of Canadians who are aware of AI said it made them worried.

Their apprehension isn't unfounded. A mounting wave of discontent has surrounded AI, with tech companies cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs to fund AI investments, entry-level positions shrinking, fatal incidents linked to AI psychosis, and stark warnings from industry leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has cautioned that the technology will eliminate jobs on a massive scale.

The survey reveals a contrasting picture elsewhere in the world, however. In Singapore—which recorded the highest share of daily users in the study at 46%—more than 80% of those familiar with AI expect it to improve their everyday lives, and 77% believe it will benefit the country. In China, where 35% of people report daily AI use, most expect it to help the nation. Israel follows a similar pattern.

Even so, optimism about AI doesn't necessarily equate to confidence in its accuracy. According to Gallup, daily AI users tend to trust its results more, particularly in high-adoption countries like Singapore, Israel, and China, while less frequent users remain doubtful across the board. In the U.S., only 45% of daily users expressed that level of confidence. All told, just 36% (median) of those surveyed said they trust AI's results a great deal.

On balance, though, Gallup reports that positive feelings about AI outweigh negative ones: In 34 of the 37 countries surveyed, people predominantly reported feeling curious about the technology, with fewer saying they felt happy or excited. Only about 32% of respondents said they felt worried about AI. Positive emotions appear most prevalent in China (90%), Singapore (89%), and Kenya (87%).

It remains unclear how much sentiment in certain countries—especially China—may have shifted since the survey concluded in July, given that the pace of AI development has recently escalated into a matter of international significance. AI safety is among the key topics slated for discussion when U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jingping meet on Thursday. Notably, China's head of the Ministry of State Security, Chen Yixin, wrote in a recent article that AI will have "a systemic impact on the political and security environment," and could threaten China's "political security, institutional security, and ideological security."

"One of the clearest findings is that attitudes toward AI are multidimensional. People can be curious about AI, expect it to be beneficial and use it frequently while still being worried about it."

While the report depicts optimism tinged with concern, it's nonetheless true that AI anxieties are increasingly becoming part of public conversation. Those who depend on AI for everyday tasks may ultimately back stricter regulations or push back against its use in hiring, healthcare, education, or government. And there's a solid case to be made that training and running AI models can harm the climate, while their unregulated use can compromise cybersecurity, erode content ownership, disrupt the creative arts, or damage data privacy.

Ultimately, the report indicates that greater exposure alone won't dissolve the unease surrounding the technology. Still, given the sheer volume of money being invested, AI will likely keep expanding even as debates rage over where it belongs and what boundaries should be imposed around it.