Chapman University Survey Finds AI Election Interference Is Top US Tech Fear for 2026
A new national survey reveals that Americans rank AI election interference as their third biggest fear, highlighting growing anxiety over technology.
Key points
- Chapman University’s 2026 survey shows AI interference in elections is the third biggest fear among Americans.
- Fear of corrupt government officials remains the number one concern at 61.1 percent.
- AI-related anxieties also include economic harm, environmental damage, and workforce replacement.
Chapman University’s 12th annual survey on American fears indicates that artificial intelligence interference in the political process is a top national concern for 2026. According to the private California research university, AI-related fears made the top 10 list twice. This marks the first time the institution included specific questions about artificial intelligence in its annual assessment.
The survey, commissioned to NORC at the University of Chicago, polled 1,221 adults online in April. The results show that AI-related fears appeared twice in the top ten list and permeated other categories. Ranked third overall, the fear of AI harming the election process sits below concerns like corrupt government and world war. The fear of AI damaging the economy also made the top ten, landing at number seven.
Shifting Priorities in National Anxiety
The most persistent fear for Americans remains corrupt government officials, which held steady at 61.1 percent. This figure has not changed from the previous year’s survey. However, the ranking of other geopolitical threats has shifted significantly. The fear of the United States becoming involved in another world war rose to the number two spot, up from sixth place in 2025. Despite these shifts, personal health fears involving serious illness or death of family members remain prominent in the top ten.
Seth Benzell, an assistant professor of business and economics at Chapman, noted that the survey does not portray AI exclusively as a negative force. He explained that when framed as a tool for building new things, AI generates excitement. However, the data clearly highlights significant apprehension regarding the technology’s broader societal impact. The inclusion of AI questions provided new insight into how emerging technologies are reshaping public sentiment ahead of midterm elections.
Breadth of AI and Technology Concerns
Beyond elections and economics, AI-related anxieties span multiple sectors of daily life. Forty-three point two percent of respondents feared AI would hurt the environment. An equal 42 percent worried about AI harming personal relationships and replacing people in the workforce. Smaller but notable percentages expressed fear of reporting to an AI manager at 19.1 percent and having work evaluated by AI at 19.3 percent. Working with AI-enabled technologies generated a 17.2 percent fear response.
Other technology-related fears also surfaced in the data. Government tracking of personal data concerned 48.9 percent of respondents, while cyberterrorism worried 45.7 percent. The use of government drones within the United States raised concerns for 34.2 percent of participants. Additionally, 23.5 percent feared technology they do not understand, and 12.6 percent worried about technological change in the workplace. These figures suggest a broad unease with digital transformation beyond just generative AI capabilities.
What should you do?
Security professionals should monitor public sentiment data to anticipate potential misinformation campaigns targeting election infrastructure. Organizations should review their AI deployment policies to ensure transparency and address workforce concerns. Analysts should track how cyberterrorism and data tracking fears influence regulatory demands.
Background: Generative AI
Generative AI examples include text completion, image synthesis and code generation. These systems predict the next likely token based on vast training datasets. Understanding the underlying mechanics helps you identify risks like data leakage and hallucination in your infrastructure.
Read the full guide: Generative AI Examples: Mechanisms, Risks and Control
What to do and how to stay safe: Chapman University
- Review internal AI usage policies to ensure they address transparency and employee concerns about evaluation and management.
- Monitor public sentiment surveys to identify emerging vulnerabilities in public trust that could be exploited by threat actors.
- Assess data tracking practices to ensure compliance with growing public expectations regarding privacy and government surveillance.
- Evaluate infrastructure resilience against potential AI-driven interference in critical processes like elections or economic systems.
Step-by-step guide: Prompt Injection Warning Signs: How to Spot AI Manipulation
General security guidance from the Threat Times newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
What is the number one fear for Americans in 2026?
Corrupt government officials remain the top fear, cited by 61.1 percent of respondents in the Chapman University survey.
How did the fear of world war change in the 2026 survey?
The fear of the US entering another world war rose to the number two spot, up from sixth place in the 2025 survey.
Did the survey find any positive views on AI?
Yes, Seth Benzell noted that people get excited when AI is framed as a tool that allows them to build things they couldn't before.
