AI Generates Fear For NYC Dwellers, Support For Regulation: Poll

NEW YORK CITY — Big Apple voters want protection from artificial intelligence's bad apples, a new poll found.

Nearly half — 45 percent — of New York City voters surveyed said they feel afraid of AI, compared to 37 percent who don't, according to Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute data provided to Patch.

The data comes from a statewide poll released Feb. 12 that found decisive majorities of Empire State voters, including those in New York City, are wary of a world of unfettered AI technology.

"Overall, we found that New Yorkers are very supportive of AI regulation and New York passing AI regulation at the state level," said Daniel Colson, executive director for the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute.

An explosion of AI technology such as ChatGPT in the past year has generated about its potential, but just as easily conjured fears as deepfake political dirty tricks, explicit images of Taylor Swift and other reality-bending media spread.

A future where anything can be faked by AI presents a tricky — and frightening — philosophical problem, Colson said.

"It becomes hard to tell anything is real," he said.

Colson emphasized that the vast majority of AI technology isn't dangerous or the source of significant disruptions.

But he argued that smart regulations can help nip potential harmful uses in the bud — and New York lawmakers are uniquely positioned to take the lead.

"For a state like New York in particular, any regulations passed at the state level will serve as inspiration for what regulation is pursued at the federal level," he said.

And most New York voters, including those in the city, support those potential steps.

Of those surveyed statewide, 67 percent support state-level laws that would hold creators of AI tools legally accountable for catastrophic harms such as criminal activity or national security threats, the poll found.

Sixty percent said keeping dangerous AI models out of bad actors' hands is more important than providing the technology's benefits to everyone, according to the poll.

Interestingly, New York City voters had slightly more optimistic or favorable impressions of AI technology than other Empire State residents, but not by much, according to the data provided to Patch.

For example, 58 percent of New York City voters said that tech company executives can't be trusted to self-regulate the AI industry, compared to 73 percent outside the city, the poll found

And 39 percent of New York City voters said AI progress should be going faster, compared to 22 percent statewide.

The relatively bullish view is perhaps noteworthy given that New York City voters were also recently targeted in what many fear what soon could be a commonplace election season dirty trick: deepfake audio of a candidate.

A fake 10-second clip of Keith Wright, a Manhattan Democratic Party boss, bad-mouthing an elected official recently caused chaos in Harlem's politics, Politico reported.

Only 10 percent of New York voters outside the city were aware of the incident, compared to 19 percent inside, the poll found.

Interestingly, 81 percent of New York City voters said the incident increased their concerns about AI, while 91 percent of those outside the city said the same, according to poll data provided to Patch.

New York City voters were also slightly less likely to support — 63 percent, compared to 75 percent of voters outside the city — legislation making clear AI model creators are liable for malicious deepfake audio of public figures, the data showed.

Most voters — 79 percent — outside the city said they'd support legislation requiring political campaigns to say when they use AI in radio ads or mailers, while 63 percent inside New York City said the same, according to the data.

But, overall, New Yorkers of all stripes expressed more concern than not over AI.

Colson said compared the wariness to AI to negative views of human cloning. He said it appears most people want guardrails on potentially transformative technology.

"There's something inappropriate about unilaterally changing the nature of humans, or what it means to be human in the world," he said.