AI perceived more negatively than climate science or science in general
A new paper from Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center explores public perceptions of AI science and scientists, comparing those to perceptions of science and scientists in general. The findings show that people perceive AI scientists more negatively than climate scientists.
2 min. read
Because perceptions of a new technology like AI can help shape how the technology is developed and used, it is important to understand what Americans think about AI—how positively or negatively they regard the technology, and what hopes and concerns they have about it.
In a new paper, researchers affiliated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) explore public perceptions of AI science and scientists, comparing those to perceptions of science and scientists in general, and perceptions of climate science and scientists in particular.
The researchers surveyed an empaneled national probability sample of U.S. adults about how they perceived these different scientific domains in terms of each of the “Factors Assessing Science’s Self-Presentation” (FASS)—a rubric that includes credibility, prudence, unbiasedness, self-correction, and benefit.
They find that people perceived AI scientists more negatively than climate scientists or scientists in general, and that this negativity is driven by concern about AI scientists’ prudence—specifically, the perception that AI science is causing unintended consequences. The researchers also examined whether these negative perceptions might be a result of AI being so new and unknown, but find that public perceptions of AI science and scientists did not significantly improve from 2024 to 2025, even as AI became a more common presence in everyday life.
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