Why do Americans hate A.I.?

Reliability, Responsibility, and Negligence

• Example of lawyers sanctioned for AI‑fabricated citations is repeatedly cited as “textbook negligence” and emblematic of why people distrust AI.
• One side claims “AI is inherently unreliable,” especially LLMs used naively; the other notes many ML systems are already reliable in production and stresses that reliability depends on surrounding processes and constraints.
• Broad agreement: if you ship work generated with AI, you are still fully responsible; blaming “hallucinations” is not accepted. This leads some to question whether an error‑prone tool is worth the risk for serious domains.

Forced Adoption, Low Quality, and Everyday Frustration

• Many comments stress oversaturation: AI “features” bolted onto search, support, phones, and apps that work poorly and are hard to avoid.
• Concrete annoyances: inaccurate AI search summaries, unusable AI support bots, AI‑generated spam music, “AI assistants” replacing human staff (e.g., property management, trades) and failing at basic tasks like addresses or scheduling.
• People see AI primarily as a way for companies to cut labor costs while degrading service, without passing savings to customers.

Jobs, Inequality, and Safety Nets

• Strong fear of job loss, especially for lower‑skill desk work and “bullshit jobs,” with no robust American safety net or UBI to cushion displacement.
• Some argue many of these jobs add little real value and that cheaper clerical/compliance work could unlock productive projects and lower prices; others respond that without structural reforms, displaced workers simply suffer.
• Several note that Americans are already economically anxious; AI is perceived as another tool to concentrate wealth and power upward.

Media, Framing, and International Comparisons

• The NYT headline’s jump from “more concerned than excited” to “hate” is criticized as sensational.
• Claims of a “uniquely American” animosity are challenged with poll data showing broad global concern; differences within Europe, Asia, and developing countries are discussed but remain anecdotal and mixed.
• Some blame anti‑tech media; others point out years of uncritical AI hype and billionaire‑driven narratives.

Broader Distrust and Existential Worries

• Many don’t trust tech giants, billionaires, or government to deploy AI in the public interest: concerns include deepfakes, surveillance, propaganda, automated gatekeeping for jobs/credit, and massive energy‑hungry data centers.
• A recurring stance: AI may be technically impressive or personally useful (e.g., coding help), but under current political and economic conditions, Americans see little reason to believe it will make their lives better.