Fox News Poll: Voters see AI as a risk to privacy and paychecks

As artificial intelligence grabs headlines and stirs debate, the latest Fox News Poll finds most voters see it as a threat to privacy and jobs, contributing to a largely negative impression overall.

The survey, released Thursday, finds voters think AI mostly hurts rather than helps key aspects of life, whether on a personal, national, or global scale.

Voters have negative views on AI by 50 points when it comes to privacy (63% hurts, 13% helps), by 35 points on U.S. job creation (56-21), by 15 points on the national economy (42-27), by 5 points on people’s daily lives (38-33), and by 4 points on their own personal lives (30-26).

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The only area where people think AI mainly helps rather than hurts is U.S. competitiveness with other countries: 38% think it helps while 32% view it as harmful.

Still, sizable minorities feel AI doesn’t make a difference in each category: 43% feel it makes no difference in their personal life, 30% in the economy, 29% global competitiveness, 28% people’s daily lives, 23% people’s privacy, and 21% job creation.

By double-digits, Democrats and independents are more likely to say AI hurts rather than helps in each area.

While the level of negativity varies, more voters under age 30 say AI hurts more than helps in every category listed. Voters age 65 and over also view AI technology as more hurtful except when it comes to global competitiveness, where they give it the benefit of the doubt.

Viewing the new technology as harmful leads to an overall negative opinion of AI, with 43% having a favorable opinion vs. 54% unfavorable.

Those who view it positively include voters in households with $100,000 or more income (54% favorable), Republicans (53%), Republicans who identify as MAGA (57%), and Catholics (52%).

Some of the biggest drivers of AI pessimism are independents (64% unfavorable), Democrats (61%), and women without a college degree (60%).

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One more thing…

When asked which political party would better handle artificial intelligence, voters are closely divided: 51% say the Democrats vs. 46% the Republicans.  The results are within the margin of error, indicating no clear advantage for either party.

Part of the Democrats’ edge comes from a majority of independents backing them over their GOP counterparts (54% to 46%) and more than 1 in 10 self-identified Republicans defecting as well (13% D, 84% R).

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Conducted April 17-20, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (116) and cellphones (635) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (250). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.