A new survey has revealed that a substantial majority of Americans, including Republican voters, have strong reservations about emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology and think AI companies should be regulated and liable for harms, citing concerns over its potential replacement of workers, harmful chatbots, and other worries.

The poll, conducted by the Institute for Family Studies, surveyed 6,200 American voters and found that 71% “have a negative view of how AI will affect society,” while just 29% “find it intriguing or exciting.”

The study further found that 60% of respondents agreed with Pope Leo’s recent statement that “builders of AI should cultivate moral discernment,” with just 8% disagreeing and 32% neutral. In addition, 44% agreed with the statement that “AI is against the working man,” with 18% disagreeing and 38% neutral. There was much sharper disagreement on the recent statement of AI investor Marc Andreessen that AI will become one of the best things mankind has ever invented, with 32% agreeing, 31% disagreeing, and 37% neutral.

As for AI chatbots, which have become intensely controversial in light of reports of chatbots inducing teens into committing suicide, “48% of voters disagree with the statement that ‘AI chatbots can be good friends and companions for children,’ while only 8% agreed” (26% were unsure).

The poll also found that Republican voters in five key states (Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Utah) broadly support “holding AI companies liable for harms.” It additionally found that red-state Republicans “are more likely to support candidates for office that protect kids from harms from AI and less likely to support candidates that support federal preemption of states seeking to regulate AI.”

The survey comes as the Trump administration has signaled its desire for minimal regulation of the AI industry, with President Trump signing an executive order (EO) in January 2025 to revoke Biden-era AI regulations and another EO in December directing the White House’s AI & Crypto Czar to formulate a proposal to Congress for a “minimally burdensome [to AI companies] national policy framework for AI.” Several competing efforts surrounding AI regulation are currently circulating in Congress, including one from AI venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz, one from House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Chair Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), and a legislative proposal from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

Meanwhile, the lack of AI regulation in the U.S. is leading to the explosive growth of AI-powered apps that transform ordinary images into pornography without the consent of the subjects. A report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) published Tuesday found that there were 55 “nudify” apps on Google Play and 47 in the Apple App Store. While both Apple and Google say they suspended several of the apps after being notified of them, dozens still remain available for download. “Both companies say they are dedicated to the safety and security of users, but they host a collection of apps that can turn an innocuous photo of a woman into an abusive, sexualized image,” TTP noted in its report.

The revelations followed reports earlier this month that the xAI chatbot Grok allows users to generate sexualized images of women and children from ordinary photos. A review of user-generated images found that Grok produced 1.8 million sexualized images in just nine days.

Mary Szoch, who serves as director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand that regulations around AI must be put in place to protect the public.

“AI creating nude images from ordinary photographs is horrifying,” she observed. “Imagine how many lives — both of those whose pictures are being manipulated and those who are viewing the pictures — will be ruined because of this evil. America needs to rein in this technology immediately.”