TL;DR: Voters are now surprisingly open to talking about existential risk from AI. This seems to have changed in the last 6 months. When campaigning for AI safety-friendly politicians (e.g., Alex Bores), we should talk more about AI in general, and about AI risk in particular. This is currently actionable for the CA-11 and NY-12 Democratic primaries. I include concrete advice to turn basic conversations during political canvassing into persuasive conversations centered on AI risk.

Public opinion around AI has rapidly soured in the 12 months. According to a March 19-23 Quinnipiac poll,

55% of Americans think AI will do "more harm than good", compared to 44% a year ago.
70% of Gen Z Americans think AI will decrease job opportunities, up from 56% last year.
65% of Americans oppose building a data center in their community.

Anecdotally, I've noticed more willingness among non-AI-focused media to discuss widespread harm from AI. Most visibly, gradual disempowerment is a hot topic (NYT), and right-wing pundits like Steve Bannon have supported Anthropic's red-line against lethal autonomous weapons. Memorably, my cousin, a county commissioner in a rural area, has told me about farmers showing up at city council meetings, sending emails, and [...]

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First published:
May 13th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9WPfkYDZCacnbhprX/voters-are-surprisingly-open-to-talking-about-ai-risk

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Voters are surprisingly open to talking about AI risk” by less_raichu

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Voters are surprisingly open to talking about AI risk” by less_raichu