AI already has a publicity problem among the average American. Data centers are making it worse.

A Gallup poll published this week found that an average of 7 in 10 Americans oppose data center construction in their area, including 48% who strongly oppose such facilities being built locally. Only about a quarter reported favoring local construction of data centers, with just 7% strongly in favor.

Respondents reported a wide range of concerns about these facilities being built in their neighborhoods:

• Environmental impacts were an overarching theme, with 50% worried about data centers' impact on resources, 18% about excess water usage, 18% about power grid constraints, and 16% concerned about pollution.
• Around 22% worried about quality-of-life concerns, including impacts on property values, traffic and housing. And 20% reported concerns about data centers' impacts on costs, such as higher utility bills and cost-of-living increases.
• Meanwhile, 14% reported that they simply have negative views of AI that broadly shape how they view data centers.

The poll also found that opposition to data centers was largely bipartisan, with 75% of Democratic respondents, 74% of independent respondents, and 63% of Republican respondents reporting opposition. Gallup noted that this could mean AI infrastructure could become a hot-button campaign issue.

“Overcoming this opposition stands as a major hurdle in the expansion of AI computing,” Gallup said in its press release. “The intensity of opposition means that proposed data centers are likely to spur grassroots activism from local residents as well as legal challenges.”

But not all of the opinions were negative. Among those who reported being in favor of development, 66% anticipated that data center development would bring local economic benefits, such as job opportunities, tax revenue and improved infrastructure.

This poll points to an increasingly prevalent trend: Outside Silicon Valley's bubble, non-technical people largely do not like or understand AI. This is also evidenced by the fact that only 16% of people use AI regularly, according to a Microsoft study.

Our Deeper View

It’s no secret that AI has a PR problem. Practically every day, headlines are bubbling up that AI is poised to shred the economy and force thousands of people out of their professions, especially if they can’t or won’t use it. This narrative is equally fueled by horror stories of people slipping into AI psychosis the more they interact with these models, as well as looming figures related to AI’s environmental impact. But AI faces an existential paradox: Without adoption by a wider user base, today's AI labs will struggle to achieve both the returns and the transformative impact they have promised their technology will deliver. To gain that adoption, AI providers need to change the narrative. The problem, however, is how to do so. Because this technology is so nascent, we truly don’t know the scale of the impact it will have on our economy, society, environment or sense of human purpose. Seeking to quell the mania by explaining how everything will be okay could be a herculean task when it’s too early to accurately make those promises. This will require creativity to find ways to engage more people in constructive conversations about AI. It also wouldn't hurt if the labs could make the tools easier to use and deliver greater benefits in daily life.