A new YouGov poll asked Americans about their technology adoption habits and their predictions about 18 emerging technologies — including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and self-driving cars. The technology that Americans who have heard of it are most likely to think will become widespread is 3D printing; this also happens to be the technology that people who have heard of it are most likely to say would be good for society.
Americans have become less likely to buy new technology products for the sake of the new. 46% of Americans say they only replace technology products when they go wrong or are broken. The share of people who say this best describes them has risen since a similar poll in 2023, when 35% chose this descriptor. In a similar poll conducted in 2022, 33% said this best described them.
20% say they sometimes buy new technology products, but only when they really like them. A similar number (21%) say they like to get new technology products after they’ve been out for a while. 6% say they are always keen to use new technology products as soon as they enter the market, and 4% say they are actively on the lookout to buy new technology devices and services.
Of 18 emerging technologies asked about, the one Americans are most likely to have heard a lot about is artificial intelligence, or AI (46%). Fewer have heard a lot about virtual reality (35%), 3D printing (33%), self-driving cars (32%), or cryptocurrency (28%).
The technologies Americans are most likely to be unfamiliar with are decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) (89% have heard nothing about this), hyperloop transportation (73%), and Implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) (66%).
The share of Americans familiar with AI has increased slightly since 2023, when 41% said they had heard a lot about it. Only 27% said so in 2022, according to a poll conducted before the wide release of the popular AI tool ChatGPT.
Among the 10% of Americans who are early adopters of technology — defined here as people who are always keen to use new technology products as soon as they enter the market or are actively on the lookout to buy new technology devices and services — 75% say they’ve heard a lot about artificial intelligence and 50% have heard a lot about virtual reality.
Which technologies do Americans think will become widespread? Among people who have heard of each technology, 86% think 3D printing will catch on and 82% say the same of artificial intelligence. This marks an increase from 2023, when 77% who had heard of AI thought it would become widespread; in 2022, 69% thought this.
Among people who have heard of it, 75% think virtual reality (VR) will become widespread. Many who have heard of each technology believe the same about artificial organs (68%), gene editing technology (65%), augmented reality (65%), quantum computing (63%), self-driving cars (63%), and nanorobotics (60%).
Even among people who are familiar with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), few (28%) think they’ll ever become widespread. Fewer than half believe that hyperloop transportation (38%) or personal space travel (40%) will ever catch on among people who have heard of each.
If each technology were to catch on, which ones do Americans think would be beneficial for society? Americans familiar with each one are most likely to say 3D printing (76%), artificial organs (67%), and quantum computing (64%) would be good for society.
Fewer than half who have each of each technology say any would be bad for society, with one exception: non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 51% who have heard of NFTs say they would be bad for society if they became widespread, compared to just 15% who say it would be good for society.
AI divided people who have heard of it: 33% say it would be good for society, and 37% bad, if AI became widespread. In 2022, 43% thought it would be good and 30%, bad.
Among people who have heard of quantum computing, 40% say it is very important for the U.S. government to invest in it. Fewer Americans who have heard of each technology say it’s very important for the U.S. government to invest in artificial organs (35%), 3D printing (26%) or nanorobotics (26%). The percentages are below 10% for cryptocurrency, the metaverse, and NFTs.
As technologies develop, when do Americans think computers will become more intelligent than people? About two-thirds think it either already has happened or will someday. 30% believe it’s already happened. Another 2% think it hasn't happened yet but will before 2025, 16% think this will happen between 2025 and 2049, and 11% think it’ll happen between 2050 and 2099. Just 7% think this will happen in 2100 or later; another 15% believe computers will never become more intelligent than people. 20% are unsure.
The number of people who believe computers are already more intelligent than people has doubled since 2022, when 15% held this opinion.
65% of Americans believe that computers are or will become more intelligent than people, including 47% who are very or somewhat concerned about the possibility of these computers of superior intellect attacking humanity.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
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- Majorities of Americans are concerned about the spread of AI deepfakes and propaganda
- Most say the invention of the internet was good for humanity; not so for social media
- AI doomsday worries many Americans. So does apocalypse from climate change, nukes, war, and more
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: The YouGov poll was conducted online on April 15 - 17, 2024 among 1,113 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Eugene Mymrin)
