TIME Magazine - 03.09.26 Edition: The People vs. AI, Behind The Growing Backlash

Not much unites Americans these days. But a growing cross section of the public—from MAGA loyalists to Democratic socialists, pastors to policymakers, nurses to filmmakers—agree on at least one thing: AI is moving too fast.

A 2025 Pew poll found five times as many Americans are concerned about AI’s growing role in daily life as are excited by it. Many worry it will undermine creativity, erode relationships, spread misinformation, displace jobs, drive up electricity demand, and reshape local communities.

TIME spoke to nine Americans across regions and ideologies who share a mission: to stop, or at least slow, a technology infiltrating nearly every aspect of human lives.