83% of people aren’t convinced that AI is making the world better
For a while now I have been wondering how the general public feel about artificial intelligence.
Investors are focused on it, the largest ever company valuations are being created because of it and we’re seeing some exceptionally high salaries for those that are skilled in it.
But, is AI making the world a better place?
This week I ran a survey. 135 people responded with 5 days to go and the results are already clear.
Screenshot of LinkedIn survey as of 28th May 2026
Exactly 50% of survey respondents do not think that Artificial Intelligence is making the world a better place.
Furthermore, 33% are undecided. Only 17% of respondents answered ‘Yes’, meaning they do believe AI is making the world a better place.
So, what is driving this?
The comments under the survey provide some anecdotal insight.
When being “for” AI, respondents gave the following reasons:
“AI has/ will continue to have the ability to solve many of humanity’s problems”
“AI being applied to big scale problems - health, nature, climate - the outcomes are already remarkable”
“AI is clearly making things better now. It solved folding proteins... do you know what that means? cures for disease breakthroughs coming soon... or closer to reality, thousands of avoided traffic accident deaths”
“It’s a question of using it with a good understanding of capabilities. I used ChatGPT to generate CAD and it kept making and admitting mistakes. AdamCAD on the other hand generated perfect CAD models.”
Those that were against, gave the following insight:
“If I am honest what I’m struggling with is the extent to which AI may eventually reach into every aspect of human life, and what that ultimately means for our existence and sense of purpose.”
“[People are] concerned [about]- centralised power, cognitive slow-down and privacy etc”
Someone else bluntly stated that “I sadly think the negatives outweigh the positives.”
Clearly, the jury is still out.
Further research indicates that AI is a double edged sword.
While it is driving revolutionary advancements in medicine, education, and climate science, it simultaneously raises profound concerns about job displacement, massive energy and water consumption, and the rapid spread of digital misinformation.
The World Resources institute states that, “while the state of generative AI is evolving rapidly, the core risks and opportunities have been consistent since the public launch of ChatGPT in 2022.”
It continues, “for one, generative AI can produce outputs that look and sound right but are factually wrong (a phenomenon known as "hallucinations") or mind-numbingly generic (so-called "AI slop").”
The environmental impact of AI is also a huge problem. Last year one of my LinkedIn posts went viral, when I announced I wasn’t going to participate in a viral trend, where people were using AI to create virtual ‘action figures’ of themselves.
Viral LinkedIn post screenshot from 2025
The International Energy Agency shares that a typical AI-focused data centre consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households; the larger centers under construction today will consume 20 times that amount.
What do you think of the AI revolution? Do you believe it will make things better for people and planet, or worse?