Americans are anxious about the AI boom going bust

Americans are anxious about the AI boom going bust The University of Michigan has for decades surveyed Americans to gauge the public mood on the economy. The latest vibe check released Friday highlighted a relatively new source of grumpiness: the possible fallout if the artificial intelligence boom goes bust. The high cost of living is top of mind for Americans, the survey found. No surprise. But the university also said that Americans’ comments “revealed growing anxiety over a possible AI bubble.” This may be among emerging signs that the public’s AI backlash is spreading to fears of the technology producing an unsustainable economic bubble. University of Michigan economist Joanne Hsu has previously said that at least 1 in 10 respondents was bringing up economic effects from AI or data centers unprompted by survey takers. Most of those mentions were negative, Hsu said in an August interview. The shift likely reflects Americans absorbing growing public banter about AI’s role in the economy, she said. Wall Street pros are worried, too. Stock markets tanked Thursday, largely over fears of a possible AI slowdown that could drag down the U.S. economy and retirement accounts. The AI anxiety took a break Friday. Stocks indexes largely went up.