Anthropic’s “Public Record” poll of nearly 52,000 Americans in late 2025 finds conflicting views on AI: strong hopes for medical breakthroughs alongside widespread fear of job displacement. Sixty‑four percent worry about AI‑driven job loss, and almost half prioritize curing diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s. Trust in AI companies is low at 15%, while over 70% of respondents support government regulation focused on privacy, child safety, and corporate liability.
Anthropic Poll: 64% Fear AI Job Losses — Nearly Half Want It To Cure Cancer and Alzheimer’s
A sweeping new poll by Anthropic — the maker of the Claude AI that has filed to go public — reveals sharply mixed American attitudes toward artificial intelligence. The survey, labeled the “Public Record,” collected responses from nearly 52,000 U.S. adults in late 2025, making it one of the largest national polls on AI to date.
Key Findings
- Job Loss Fears: A clear majority — 64% — said they worry about AI-driven job displacement. This concern was the top fear for both Democrats and Republicans and in every state surveyed.
- Health Hopes: Almost half of respondents ranked curing major diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer’s among their top three hopes for AI. Helping people with disabilities was the next most-cited goal at 36%.
- Distrust Of Industry: Only 15% trust AI companies to decide how the technology should be developed and used, substantially lower than trust in independent experts (43%) and lower than trust in federal, state and international bodies.
- Bipartisan Support For Regulation: More than 70% of respondents want the government to play a role in regulating AI, including 79% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans. Top regulatory priorities include privacy, child safety, and corporate liability for harms.
Who’s Most Anxious?
The survey found anxiety about displacement was especially pronounced among more highly educated respondents whose jobs overlap with tasks AI increasingly performs. Meanwhile, hopes that AI might substitute for human connection — for example by providing therapy or reducing loneliness — ranked lowest among the options presented.
Public Confidence And The Road Ahead
Despite excitement about medical and social benefits, public confidence in the companies building AI is thin. Respondents consistently rated independent experts and public institutions as more trustworthy decision-makers than private AI firms. The appetite for government oversight spans the political spectrum, emphasizing consumer privacy, protections for children, and mechanisms holding firms liable for harms.
Anthropic said it intends to repeat the Public Record survey regularly and to expand it beyond the United States to track how public views evolve.
The results underscore a striking contradiction in public sentiment: broad hope for transformative health advances from AI paired with deep worry about economic disruption and limited trust in industry actors to manage those risks.
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