Technological change can be unsettling, and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is no exception. What’s driving the uniquely American animosity towards A.I.? As we navigate this brave new world, it’s essential to understand the reasons behind the backlash.

## A New Level of Fear and Loathing

Artificial intelligence has brought a new level of fear and loathing, and it’s easy to see why. Chatbots are being used in kids’ classrooms, autonomous agents are ranking résumés and conducting job interviews, and software companies are using A.I. to write code. Even lawyers are using it to draft legal briefs. Experts say we’re adopting A.I. faster than any other technology in history.

But with great power comes great concern. Most Americans are worried about A.I., polling shows, and few are excited. In fact, four out of five optimists still say they’re alarmed. The freakout shows up everywhere, from Hollywood screenwriters and actors going on strike to nurses in California protesting the rush to implement what they call ‘untested and unregulated’ technology.

## The Backlash(es)

A.I. is broad, and its implications are far-reaching. A breakthrough in manufacturing may affect only manufacturing, but an A.I. breakthrough could transform manufacturing, physics, finance, music, and dozens of other fields. So the backlash is just as sprawling, and there are various reasons for it:

Jobs. Nearly three-quarters of Americans expect A.I. to slash jobs. At some companies, that’s already happening. Salesforce, a business software company, laid off 4,000 customer-support employees, citing A.I. automation. Amazon told employees the new efficiencies would shrink its work force.

Trust. The inner workings of A.I. are a black box – even to the engineers who make it. People worry about its biases, its readiness to fabricate information, and its ability to meaningfully shift public opinion and influence elections.

Agency. People who never wanted A.I. are stuck with it. The fortunes of public pensions, retirement accounts, and individual investments now depend on it. The companies that make it are responsible for most of the recent stock-market gains. (And if A.I. turns out to be a bubble, it could trigger a recession.)

## The A.I. Slop

And then there’s the A.I. slop flooding social media. It’s a never-ending stream of A.I.-generated content, from cat videos to deepfakes. It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not, and it’s eroding trust in the technology. Artists and creatives are losing control of their copyrighted work, and users are obsessing over their virtual companions.

The Silicon Valley executives who control this technology are a handful, but they’re powerful. They’re shaping the future of A.I. and deciding who gets access to it. It’s a concentration of power that’s hard to stomach, and it’s fueling the backlash against A.I.

In the end, it’s up to us to decide how we want to use artificial intelligence. We can choose to harness its power and create a better future, or we can let our fears and anxieties dictate our actions. The choice is ours, and it’s time to start making it.