One line stuck with me on this story: an AI company publishes a survey in which most respondents say they don’t want AI in their own work. That takes some nerve. Anthropic did it anyway — with the Public Record, a large-scale survey whose first results just landed.
What was measured
In late 2025, nearly 52,000 Americans were surveyed — not a tiny sample, but a scale large enough to break results down by state. Anthropic plans to repeat it regularly and expand it beyond the US. The idea: don’t guess what “the public” thinks about AI — measure it, and put it on the record.
The hopes
Health tops the list. 48 percent hope AI will help cure diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. Behind that: helping people with disabilities (36 percent) and simply making life easier (23 percent). It matches what I hear from people around me — the big promises land, the medical ones most of all.
The fears
This is where it gets stark. 64 percent fear job loss from AI — and it was the single most common concern in every single state. Then: cognitive dependency (56 percent, the fear of unlearning how to think for yourself) and misinformation (52 percent).
And then the part that makes me think the most: on most tasks, a majority wants no AI in their own work at all. Even on the tasks respondents rated AI most capable of — research, data analysis — nearly half said: keep it away from my job.
The distrust
Only 15 percent trust AI companies to oversee their own systems effectively. More than 70 percent think the government should play a role in regulation. For an industry marching toward an IPO, that’s a heavy number.
My take
I think publishing numbers like these is the right move — even when they’re uncomfortable. A company that openly shows people don’t trust it reads as more credible than one that only ships success stories. The skepticism is real, and smiling it away would be the wrong path.
At the same time: a survey is a mood reading, not a verdict on the technology. People often fear what they haven’t yet lived with day to day. That’s exactly why I write this blog — not to wave fears away, but to show what it actually feels like to use AI. Spoiler: usually more mundane and more useful than the headlines suggest.
Sources: Anthropic: Results from first Anthropic Public Record, Decrypt: Americans Fear Job Losses Due to AI