America has a complicated relationship with artificial intelligence.

We love AI when it helps write an email, plans a vacation or tells us what to make with the six random ingredients left in the refrigerator.

Then somebody shows us an AI-generated video of Abraham Lincoln doing a TikTok dance and suddenly we're ready to unplug the internet.

So, do Americans actually like AI?

According to new numbers from Pew Research Center, we're becoming increasingly nervous about it.

More Concerned Than Excited

Pew has been asking Americans whether they're more excited or concerned about the growing use of artificial intelligence.

The latest results show:

52% say they're more concerned than excited.

37% are equally concerned and excited.

And only 9% say they're more excited than concerned.

Basically, most of America is standing in front of AI saying:

“This is incredible. Please don't kill my job.”

One Age Group Is Surprisingly Chill About It

Here's an interesting twist.

People between 50 and 64 are the only age group where a majority didn't say they were more concerned than excited.

That doesn't mean they're preparing to marry a chatbot.

Only 8% of people in that age group say they're more excited than concerned.

They're just apparently a little less freaked out than everyone else.

Maybe it's because they've already survived dial-up internet, Y2K, MySpace, Facebook, smartphones and trying to cancel cable.

AI?

“Whatever. Just tell me how to get this printer working.”

AI: Love It, Hate It, Use It Anyway

That's probably the strange reality of artificial intelligence right now.

People can be worried about what AI could mean for jobs, privacy, misinformation and society while simultaneously using it to write a grocery list.

We don't completely trust it.

We don't completely hate it.

And apparently we're definitely not getting rid of it.

Which makes AI a little like the self-checkout machine.

We complain about it constantly, but somehow we keep ending up in its line.