Stanford's 2026 AI Index shows a widening gap between experts and the public

Stanford's 2026 AI Index records an increasingly visible gap between the people building AI and the people who have to live with it. While experts talk about gains for the economy, medicine and work, the American public more often responds with anxiety, distrust and an expectation of job cuts.

The gap between experts and the public

The report's key finding is blunt: AI experts and ordinary Americans disagree on nearly everything about AI's future. According to Stanford HAI, 73% of experts think AI will have a positive effect on how people do their jobs. Among the general public, only 23% agree. The gap is just as wide for the economy: 69% versus 21%. In medicine, it is 84% versus 44%.

"AI experts and the

American public disagree on nearly everything about AI's future."

This is no longer just a dispute over how fast the technology is being adopted. For part of the industry, AI is a tool for growth and productivity. For people outside it, AI is a source of risk, especially when it comes to jobs, the quality of information and trust in institutions. Notably, 64% of Americans expect AI to reduce the number of jobs over the next 20 years, while only 5% expect employment to grow.

Why Gen Z is angry

The most striking shift is in Gen Z sentiment. A Gallup survey conducted from 24 February to 4 March 2026 among 1,572 Americans aged 14 to 29 found that young people's enthusiasm for AI is falling sharply, even though they have not stopped using it. At least 51% of respondents use generative AI weekly, so this is not a rejection of the technology but a loss of trust.

• The share who feel excitement fell from 36% to 22%
• The share who feel hope dropped from 27% to 18%
• The share who feel anger rose from 22% to 31%
• Anxiety remained high at 42%
• Among employed Gen Z, 48% say the risks of AI at work outweigh the benefits

The reason is fairly down to earth: young people are the first to feel pressure on entry-level positions. The Stanford AI Index notes that employment among software developers aged 22–25 has fallen by almost 20% from its 2024 level. This is not a full collapse of the labor market; rather, the first blows of automation land on juniors and those just entering the profession.

Where the market is already changing

Public anxiety is fed not only by surveys but also by the fact that AI is no longer an experiment. According to the same report, 88% of organizations were already using AI in 2025, and generative AI reached roughly 53% mass adoption in just three years, faster than personal computers and the internet at a comparable stage. In other words, people see not a hypothetical threat but a technology being rolled out before their eyes.

At the same time, there is almost no trust in the government that is supposed to set the rules. Only 31% of Americans said they trust their government to regulate AI responsibly, the lowest figure among all countries in Stanford's sample. Meanwhile, 41% believe federal AI regulation will not go far enough, and only 27% fear that authorities will overreach.

This imbalance goes a long way toward explaining the general mood: technology is accelerating faster than the mechanisms for adapting to it. Young employees are unsure about their careers, users are unsure about the quality of AI's outputs, and the government does not inspire confidence as a referee. Against this backdrop, the optimism of people inside AI companies starts to look less like a forecast and more like the position of a group that profits from acceleration.

What this means

The Stanford report's main conclusion is simple: in 2026, AI's problem is no longer a shortage of capabilities but a shortage of trust. If the industry and governments do not show how AI creates clear benefits, protects entry-level jobs and answers to understandable rules, the gap between developers and society will only keep growing.