An overwhelming majority of likely voters want powerful AI systems to undergo mandatory formal safety reviews before they are released to the public, according to a new survey about Americans’ views on AI, going further than the existing Trump administration policy of opt-in reviews for new advanced models.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The poll, conducted by Washington, D.C.-based AI Policy Institute (AIPI), a non-partisan research organization, found that Republicans were more enthusiastic about government-led safety testing for AI models than Democrats, though more than half of voters supported such a measure regardless of their political affiliation.The survey results are the latest sign of Americans’ bipartisan desire for stronger AI regulations in the face of advancing AI capabilities, representing a shift from earlier findings that Republicans were more skeptical than Democrats of government intervention on AI issues.
“We’re currently seeing the government take a very active interest in managing the risks of AI systems and deciding what AI systems are safe enough to release,” said Peter Wildeford, the director of policy at the AI Policy Network, a policy advocacy group affiliated with AIPI.“Americans want to do more on AI safety.”AIPI asked 1,007 likely voters across the country to choose between a small set of response options for each question.
The poll was conducted on June 11 and 12 and required participants to opt in to the project from an online research marketplace.The AIPI poll found that participants did not seek to ban AI systems if sufficient regulation was also an option.
Presented with the choice of banning AI systems or requiring AI companies to implement safety measures for their most advanced systems, two-thirds of survey respondents said they preferred having AI systems with guardrails.Yet when asked whether they preferred having AI systems with no re...