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AI skepticism grows among US youth

May 18, 2026, 6:26am EDT
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University graduates.
Sophie Park/Reuters

AI backlash is growing in the US, especially among young people. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed as he gave a university commencement speech in Arizona, as was a real estate executive in Florida, after both mentioned AI.

Polls show that 70% of Americans think AI is moving too fast, over 50% have negative views of it, and just 18% of young people say they feel hopeful about it. Partly, they are turned off by AI’s upending of the job market. “Every other day, a new AI agent is being released in the market,” said Vaishali Hireraddi, 23, a University of California, Davis, graduate student who’s applied to 500 jobs so far. “What am I doing with my life?”

A chart showing AI popularity by country.

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