AI Anxiety

Abstract

A conceptual analysis of AI anxiety as a societal phenomenon. The authors argue that much of the fear surrounding AI is based on misunderstandings of how AI works, inflated by media narratives, and shaped by deep psychological tendencies to anthropomorphize intelligence.

Key Findings

• AI anxiety stems partly from conflating narrow and general intelligence
• Media narratives disproportionately amplify worst-case AI scenarios
• Public understanding of AI capabilities is systematically miscalibrated

Source