Global Courant 2023-05-02 15:18:07
According to a new Fox News poll, Republicans are less convinced than Democrats that the federal government should regulate artificial intelligence systems and are even more skeptical about whether the government is up to the task.
The poll of registered voters shows a noticeable divide between the two sides over whether and how AI should be regulated, a sign that the increasingly important issue could linger in politics as it progresses in Washington.
When asked how important it is to the federal government to regulate AI, 82% of Democrats said “very” or “somewhat,” compared to 71% of Republicans. That was one of the bigger splits in a poll that showed 76% of respondents gave some importance to federal regulation.
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Former President Donald Trump, left, and current President Joe Biden (James Devaney / GC Images / File | Alex Wong / Getty Images / File)
A similar split was seen when the group split between Biden and Trump supporters — 82% of Biden voters favored federal regulation compared to 70% of Trump voters.
The divide between parties widened when respondents were asked how confident they are that the government can “regulate AI properly”. According to the poll, 50% of Democrats answered “a lot” or “some,” while 31% of Republicans gave one of those answers. A full two-thirds of GOP respondents said they had “not much” or “none at all” when asked about their confidence level.
That gap widened when comparing Biden to Trump voters. Only 28% of Trump voters said they have some confidence in the government on AI, compared to 51% of Biden voters.
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GOP skepticism weighed heavily on the poll. Only 39% of the entire group of respondents said they had some trust in the government, compared to the 59% who said they had no trust.
Overall, voters are “skeptical elected leaders who are up to the task of putting appropriate limits on this new technology, which probably says something about people’s opinion of the technology and opinion of our leaders,” said Daron Shaw, a Republican who Fox News poll leads. with Democrat Chris Anderson.
Whether the government is ready or not, federal policymakers are increasingly exploring ways to regulate AI systems, which many argue will soon bring radical changes to all aspects of life. The Biden administration has established a blueprint to encourage fair, safe AI that does not lead to discriminatory economic outcomes for Americans.
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Fox News survey on AI (Fox news)
The Pentagon is already looking at how it can use AI to make strategic or battlefield assessments more quickly, and the Federal Trade Commission is taking a close look at how AI systems are advertised in case those ads lead to consumer misconceptions about their benefits.
And in anticipation of the need to regulate AI, congressional leaders are meeting with experts to learn more about the issue. Just last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., met with billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk; House lawmakers have met with two experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and hope to meet OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
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The Fox survey was conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research and polled 1,004 registered voters.
Pete Kasperowicz is a political editor at Fox News Digital.
