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World Economic Forum's 2024 Global Risks Report
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Empirical study from Harvard's Misinformation Review examining how public perceptions of AI election risks are shaped more by media consumption than by direct AI experience, relevant to AI governance and public communication strategies.
Metadata
Importance: 42/100organizational reportanalysis
Summary
A survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 83.4% expressed concern about AI being used to spread misinformation in the 2024 presidential election. Crucially, direct experience with AI tools like ChatGPT was not correlated with these concerns, while television news consumption was a stronger predictor, suggesting media framing rather than AI literacy drives public fear.
Key Points
- •83.4% of surveyed Americans expressed concern about AI-driven misinformation in the 2024 election, consistent across demographic groups.
- •Direct experience with generative AI tools (ChatGPT, DALL-E) showed little association with reduced concern, regardless of education or STEM background.
- •Television news consumption was more strongly linked to heightened concerns, especially among older adults.
- •Findings suggest public fear may be driven by sensationalized media coverage rather than informed understanding of AI capabilities.
- •Authors recommend AI literacy campaigns focused on building knowledge rather than amplifying fear.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Impact Assessment Model | Analysis | 65.0 |
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We surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults to understand concerns about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) during the 2024 U.S. presidential election and public perceptions of AI-driven misinformation. Four out of five respondents expressed some level of worry about AI’s role in election misinformation. Our findings suggest that direct interactions with AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E were not correlated with these concerns, regardless of education or STEM work experience. Instead, news consumption, particularly through television, appeared more closely linked to heightened concerns. These results point to the potential influence of news media and the importance of exploring AI literacy and balanced reporting.
###### By
[Harry Yaojun Yan](https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/author/harry-yaojun-yan "Posts by Harry Yaojun Yan")
Stanford Social Media Lab, Stanford University, USA
[Garrett Morrow](https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/author/garrett-morrow "Posts by Garrett Morrow")
Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, USA
[Kai-Cheng Yang](https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/author/kai-cheng-yang "Posts by Kai-Cheng Yang")
Network Science Institute, Northeastern University, USA
[John Wihbey](https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/author/john-wihbey "Posts by John Wihbey")
School of Journalism, Northeastern University, USA
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###### Topics
- [Artificial Intelligence](https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/explore/?fwp_topic=artificial-intelligence "Artificial Intelligence")
- / [Elections](https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/explore/?fwp_topic=elections "Elections")
## Research Questions
- To what extent are Americans concerned about the applications of AI for spreading misinformation during the 2024 U.S. presidential election?
- Do knowledge of and direct interactions with generative AI (GAI) tools contribute to the concerns?
- Does consuming AI-related news or information contribute to the concerns?
- What information sources contribute to people’s concerns?
## research note Summary
- In August 2023, we surveyed U.S. public opinion on new AI technologies and the upcoming U.S. presidential election via Dynata. In asking about AI’s potential role in spreading misinformation, we found that roughly four out of five Americans (83.4%) expressed some level of concern regarding AI being used to spread misinformation in the election at the time. Th
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