Stanford AI Index 2026 showed a growing gap between experts and the public

The Stanford AI Index 2026 has documented an increasingly visible gap between those who build AI and those who have to live with it. While experts talk about benefits for the economy, medicine, and work, the American public increasingly responds with anxiety, distrust, and expectations of job cuts.

Gap between experts

The report's key finding is stark: AI experts and ordinary Americans diverge on nearly everything related to the future of AI. According to Stanford HAI, 73% of experts believe AI will positively impact how people perform their work. Among the broad public, only 23% think so. At the economic level, the gap is also enormous: 69% versus 21%. In medicine — 84% versus 44%.

**AI experts and the

American public diverge on nearly everything related to the future of AI**.

This is no longer just a debate about the pace of technology adoption. For part of the AI industry, it is a tool for growth and productivity. For people outside the industry, it is a source of risk, especially where jobs, information quality, and trust in institutions are concerned. Notably, 64% of Americans expect job cuts due to AI over the next 20 years, while only 5% expect job growth.

Why Gen Z is angry

The most striking shift is in the sentiment of Generation Z. A Gallup poll conducted from February 24 to March 4, 2026, among 1,572 Americans aged 14 to 29, revealed that young people's enthusiasm for AI is dropping sharply, even though they have not stopped using it.

At least once a week, 51% of respondents use generative AI, so the issue is not rejection but loss of trust.

• The share feeling excitement fell from 36% to 22%
• The share feeling hope decreased from 27% to 18%
• The share feeling anger rose from 22% to 31%
• Anxiety remained high — 42%
• Among working Gen Z, 48% believe that the risks of AI at work outweigh the benefits

The reason for this reaction is quite straightforward: young people are the first to feel pressure on entry-level positions. Stanford AI Index notes that employment among software developers aged 22–25 fell by nearly 20% from 2024 levels. This is not a complete labor market collapse, but rather automation's initial impact is hitting juniors and those just entering the profession.

Where the market is already changing

Public anxiety is fueled not only by surveys but also by the fact that AI has ceased to be an experiment. According to the same report, 88% of organizations in 2025 were already using AI, and generative AI achieved approximately 53% mass penetration in just three years — faster than personal computers and the internet at a comparable stage.

In other words, society sees not a hypothetical threat but a technology being implemented literally before their eyes. Meanwhile, there is almost no trust in the government, which should set the rules of the game. Only 31% of Americans said they trust their government on responsible AI regulation — the lowest figure among all countries in Stanford's sample. Concurrently, 41% believe that federal AI regulation will be insufficiently strict, and only 27% fear that authorities will overreach.

This imbalance well explains the general mood: technologies are accelerating faster than adaptation mechanisms. Young employees are uncertain about their career future, users are uncertain about solution quality, and the state does not inspire confidence as an arbiter. Against this backdrop, the optimism of people inside AI companies begins to look not like a forecast but as a position of a group that benefits from acceleration.

What this means

Stanford's main conclusion is simple: the problem with AI in 2026 is no longer a lack of capability, but a lack of trust. If the industry and government do not demonstrate how AI creates tangible benefits, protects entry-level jobs, and complies with clear rules, the gap between developers and society will only grow.