On a quiet summer afternoon, Sarah needs some inspiration. She scrolls through her Instagram feed, then onto TikTok. Finding none, she challenges Alexa for an answer. “Alexa, play some inspiring music for me,” and in a brief moment, the sounds of Sarah’s Epic Motivational Playlist can be heard all around her. It is exactly what she needed.
She remarks to a friend that she is concerned about all of this AI Stuff she reads in her news feed and worries AI will soon be taking her job, since it seems it is all her employer is talking about these days. A Gartner study reports 68% of CEOs are developing strategies integrating employees and AI Agents. Some days, she really hates AI for this reason. Like so many others, she doesn’t trust it, but the contrast is she does trust it — at least for certain things like recommending TikTok videos and crafting music she likes. So why does she not trust AI for everything else?
It’s an Attitude Thing
A recent PEW Research Center study asked people about their attitudes towards AI and the future. Whether we like it or not, AI is already embedded in our society and is nuanced into our everyday lives — from Google Maps to Netflix’s recommendations. In their study, by a margin of nearly two to one, 43% of respondents believe the increased use of AI will harm them, while 24% thought it can be beneficial. The threat and worry about jobs is the most striking finding, with 64% saying it will lead to fewer jobs. It might be important to note that among AI Experts, 52% believed it would either create more jobs or not make much of a difference to the workforce.
There is more to this story, and we need to get down to the layers of trust we share with AI. Another recent study by Bain & Company showed like Sarah, there is higher trust with AI for some things and less for others. For example, shopping and product recommendations, and even tasks like learning, are things people are pretty comfortable doing with AI.
Yet our trust wanes as the tasks become more complex or have higher levels of negative consequences, such as self-driving cars. While most people say they can trust AI for product recommendations (51%), only 27% trusted it with big financial decisions, and even fewer (24%) trusted AI to drive their car.
Invisible AI
People are likely interacting with Generative AI (GenAI) unknowingly. And this should not be much of a surprise, given the hype GenAI has taken on since it was first introduced in late 2022. The hype and the rapid iterations of GPT models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity (the list goes on), and integrations into tools by Microsoft, Google, Meta (the list goes on) shifted the industry. Shifted all industries. We are at a point where if any company is not touting using some form of GenAI then they are behind the times. Everything from company chatbots to logistics is getting AI treatment. What does that mean for all of us?
Control, Preference, Both?
Is this about control or preference or a little of both? When it comes to making decisions like your next favorite beach book read or movie to watch, we tend to want lists. Do not dare tell us which book exactly to read (although AI might get that perfectly right), just provide us with 3, or 5, or 10 where we can choose what is best.
AI can feel like it is getting in the way of our choices…
There is a bit of psychology at play. First, if given too many choices, it can lead to cognitive overload. A short list is manageable and does not overwhelm the decision maker. Next, individuals want to have a sense of autonomy and control over their choices. AI can feel like it is getting in the wayof our choices. Finally, there is a fear of missing out (FOMO) when people are given the perfect recommendation; they might still feel there must have been some other ideal solution.
As AI learns your preferences and we see results that build confidence, we are more likely to accept AI recommendations. We no longer ask for the three best driving routes to the beach, we simply accept the one we are given. This is our preference for low-risk decisions, which is in contrast to higher risk decisions. For those, we still want to be in control, and this explains some of our resistance to AI.
The Future We Already Know
The future world that concerns Sarah may already be here. How we prepare for it, embrace it, or try to find ways to resist AI will determine how we (mostly) experience AI. In many ways, we have already unknowingly given up our data, some of our privacy, and often our choice of decisions to AI.
For tasks with low negative impact, this is ok (is there really a best, better, very best way to word a short email? Compose and send, thank you!). When AI saves time from the mundane, maybe it is exactly what we need.
Sarah may think differently when AI starts changing her job duties, but maybe, just maybe, the inspiring music she is listening to now is what she needs to think through her new career path. One that is lifted up and augmented with AI. One that allows her to focus energy on the best parts of her work. One that feels rewarding since AI has helped remove the trivial and empowered her to make the best decisions.
For now, the story of AI in our lives is not about trust or jobs, it is about usage. Even as 64% of Americans worry AI will eliminate employment, consider ChatGPT gained 100 million users faster than any app in history, in just two months. ChatGPT currently has 800 million active users, not to mention all of the users of its competing apps. We may not trust AI with our future, but we can’t seem to stop using it in the present.
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