As Americans struggle with AI’s growing role in workplaces, schools, communities, and civic life, a new Murmuration survey finds women, particularly Gen Z women, are most skeptical of AI’s impact and more protective of human creativity and connection.
NEW YORK – AI and the Human Future, a new report published by Murmuration, with support from the Walton Family Foundation, finds a stark divide in how men and women view AI’s impact on American life. Nationally, just 27% of women say AI is having a positive impact on the world, compared to 40% of men – a 13-point gender gap. Among adults 18-30, that divide grows to 20 points: 58% of women ages 18-30 say AI is having a negative impact on the world, compared with 38% of men their age.
The full report – which reflects a survey of 7,188 adults, including an oversample of 2,704 Gen Z adults, and a survey of 799 teens (ages 13-17) – examines how Americans are navigating AI’s growing role across work, schools, elections, communities, and public life.
AI Opportunity Isn’t Experienced Equally
The report finds that optimism about AI also tracks closely with economic security. Americans who feel financially secure are both more likely to use AI and to identify benefits from it:
- 45% of Americans who describe their finances as “prosperous” say AI is having a positive impact on the world, compared with 27% of those who are struggling.
- 65% of Americans earning $100,000+ identify saving time and increasing efficiency as an AI benefit, compared with just 46% earning less than $50,000.
- Lower-income Americans (HHI < $50k) are more than twice as likely to say they see no benefits from AI at all – 19% vs. 9% compared to those earning $100,000+.
And women are 11 points less likely than men to name AI’s economic upside: only 19% report economic growth as a benefit of AI, compared to 30% of men. Women and Americans who identify as “struggling” financially are also more likely to want workplaces to prioritize human ingenuity:
- 62% of women say workplaces should prioritize opportunities for human creativity and interaction over optimizing for AI-driven efficiency, compared with 53% of men. (Among adults 18-30, that rises to 71% of women, compared to 61% of men.)
- 61% of ‘struggling’ Americans say the same, compared with 47% of prosperous Americans.
In Communities, Elections, and Schools – Americans Want More Control over AI
With AI Infrastructure Development:
- 92% say local residents should have input in decisions about nearby AI infrastructure; 70% say local residents should have “a great deal” of input.
- 55% of respondents would strongly oppose a data center near their own community.
- 53% say AI companies should pay the associated energy and water costs.
- When asked to choose between rapid AI infrastructure expansion and addressing local impacts, 55% of respondents prioritize community considerations; only 17% prioritize moving quickly.
Notably, the Americans most open to industry input are young men: just 43% of men 18-30 say residents should have the most say – versus at least 55%+ of every age-by-gender group surveyed. And 14% would hand development decisions to AI and tech companies, nearly double the national figure of 8%.
In Elections & Government:
- Only 6% believe AI will strengthen democracy, and skepticism crosses party lines: 35% of Democrats, 29% of Republicans, and 29% of Independents expect AI to weaken democracy.
- 81% of Americans are concerned AI could make it harder to know what is true during elections, including 50% who are very concerned.
- Women are 10 points more concerned than men: 55% are very concerned, compared with 45% of men. (Among adults 18-30, the delta widens to 54% of women vs. 35% of men.)
- 54% say political campaigns using AI to create campaign materials is mostly or completely unacceptable.
Looking ahead ten years, 37% expect government use of AI to create new problems, compared with just 13% who expect it to improve people’s lives. And 75% of Americans say important public decisions should always have a human making the final decision, regardless of how capable AI becomes.
For Classrooms & Learning:
- 61% of Americans say K-12 schools should prioritize helping students learn without relying too much on AI, compared to just 26% who say schools should focus on helping students learn to use AI effectively for the future.
- 62% of teenagers ages 13-17 similarly say schools should prioritize learning without relying on AI.
- Among teenagers, 73% support AI for explaining a concept and 66% for checking work – but only 11% support using it to write an essay and 10% to take a test.
Concern about cognitive dependence runs across generations: nearly half of Americans (49%) believe AI encourages people to rely less on their own thinking.
“At a moment when there is so much uncertainty and discourse around AI’s impact on our global future, Americans are clear about what they want,” said Dr. Sarah Stamper, Murmuration’s Chief Research Officer. “Across workplaces, schools, communities, and government, people want human thinking, creativity, and agency to remain at the center of our society. And women, particularly younger women, are telling us – loud and clear – that how we build this future matters far more than how quickly we build it.”
Read the full report here.
Methodology
Murmuration surveyed 7,188 adults in the United States from July 14-26, 2026, including an oversample of 2,704 Gen Z adults ages 18-30. The survey was conducted online and weighted by age, race, gender, education, and party identification to be representative of the U.S. adult population. The overall survey has a margin of error of ±1.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.
Murmuration also surveyed 799 teenagers ages 13-17 from July 16-27, 2026. The teen survey was conducted online and weighted by age, race, and gender to be representative of U.S. teenagers ages 13-17. It has a margin of error of ±3.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.
About Murmuration: Murmuration is an operating nonprofit that helps community organizations strengthen civic engagement through research, technology, data, and organizing support.
About The Walton Family Foundation: The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the Foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta.