Marylanders are aware of artificial intelligence, and they are ‘wary’ of it, poll finds

Nearly all Marylanders responding to a new poll said they are aware of artificial intelligence — and they have concerns.

“There’s, like, across the board concern,” said Mileah Kromer, director of the poll produced for the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “Democrats, Republicans, unaffiliated voters, so everybody’s pretty concerned about this.”

Kromer’s poll, released Thursday, found that 54% of those surveyed said they had heard or read “a lot” about AI. Another 32% said they knew “some” and 11% “just a little.”

Those who were at least “a little” familiar with the technology said they think it will have a negative impact on society. Three in 10 voters said they believe AI will have a positive impact.

“They are aware and they are wary,” Kromer said.

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Not wary enough to swear off AI entirely, however: Despite the concerns, more than 70% of those surveyed said they are using the technology at lease occasionally.

About 43% said they used AI tools weekly if not more often. Another 9% said they used it multiple times a month. One in five said they used the technology less than once a month while 26% said they never use it.

The UMBC poll surveyed 810 Maryland adults, who included 757 registered voters. The poll, conducted Oct. 21-25, has an overall margin of error of 3.4%. The margin of error among registered voters is 3.5%.

The poll released Thursday is the third of the poll’s three surveys.

Concerns in the most recent poll include:

• 81% are concerned about the spread of misinformation and political propaganda because of AI.
• 78% said identity theft and impersonation are a concern.
• 61% said the impact on education and critical thinking skills.
• 58% said the decline of interpersonal interactions and relationships.
• 55% said they worried it would displace people in the workplace.
• 51% worried about the impact of data centers on the environment.
• Just 44% worried about law enforcement using the tool for facial recognition.

“Everybody’s concerned,” Kromer said. “And I think that the interesting story from a political perspective, is the concern about the spread of misinformation and political propaganda, and the concern about identity theft or impersonation and manipulation of images, video or audio.”