Low trust in government, higher trust in AI
People trust AI chatbots more than they trust their elected representatives. This is a survey of people who use AI regularly, so high chatbot trust is not surprising in itself. What is more striking is how low institutional trust is by comparison, and how naturally AI slots into the space between trusted personal advisors and distrusted institutions. For policymakers hoping to shape how AI is used, this is likely to be an uncomfortable finding. People are more likely to take guidance from a chatbot than from the government trying to regulate it.
Personal trust: who do you trust to act in your best interest?
"To what extent, if at all, do you trust [entity] to act in your best interest? (n=1,044)
Your family doctor
42%
43%
10%
4%
1%
Your social media feed (e.g. TikTok, Facebook)
3%
14%
25%
31%
26%
Your elected representatives
3%
28%
21%
28%
20%
Your faith or community leader
11%
34%
29%
15%
10%
Civil servants in your government
4%
28%
25%
27%
16%
Your AI chatbor (e.g. ChatGPT)
12%
44%
28%
12%
4%
Strongly trust
Somewhat trust
Neither
Somewhat distrust
Strongly distrust
At the institutional level, public research institutions command the most trust (70%), followed by small businesses (52%) and public utility companies (43%). As with the previous chart, governments are considered by respondents to be one of the least trusted institutions, second only to social media companies. AI companies are trusted more than big tech and government for now, but they sit closer to the distrusted end of the spectrum.
Trust in institutions to do what's right
"To what extent, if at all, do you trust [institution] to do what is right? (n=1,044)
Governments
3%
24%
17%
32%
24%
Small businesses
8%
44%
28%
16%
4%
Large corporations
6%
22%
21%
28%
23%
Social media companies
2%
13%
22%
30%
32%
Companies building AI
6%
27%
27%
24%
16%
Public utility companies
5%
38%
32%
18%
7%
Public research institutions
19%
51%
20%
8%
2%
Strongly trust
Somewhat trust
Neither
Somewhat distrust
Strongly distrust
This level of distrust in government is grounded in experience. As we saw in chart 5, when asked to rate how well their needs are being met across eleven life domains, respondents rank governance last at 2.6 out of 5, below even meaningful work and environment.
When asked directly whether AI or elected governments should make decisions about how AI affects people's lives, the public is split: 38% agree that AI would do better than governments, 28% disagree, and 34% are unsure (Chart 32). This is not a ringing endorsement of being governed by AI systems, but given the low trust in governments, the fact that more people agree than disagree is notable.
"AI could make better decisions on my behalf than my government representatives"
Agree / Unsure / Disagree (n=1,042)
Agree (38%)
Unsure (34%)
Disagree (28%)