The opinion‑research firm surveyed at least 1,000 adults in each of the 37 nations, achieving a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points and a confidence interval of 4.9 points. Positive emotions toward AI outweighed negative feelings in 34 of the countries, according to Gallup’s senior scientist Pablo Diego‑Rosell.
In China and Vietnam, more than nine in ten participants said they believed AI would improve daily life. Similar majorities were recorded in Nigeria, Israel and Singapore, where over two‑thirds expressed a hopeful outlook.
The United States stood out as the most skeptical market, with only 36% of respondents viewing AI as mostly helpful. The poll placed the United States at the top of a list of seven Western high‑income countries—along with Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Malta and the Netherlands—that showed the highest levels of concern.
Daily users of AI were generally less anxious than occasional or non‑users. In the United States, 68% of daily AI users expressed worry, compared with 80% of less frequent users and 74% of those who had never used the technology.
Researchers noted that the “worried West” combines high adoption rates with heightened apprehension about AI’s societal impact. By contrast, many Asian governments frame AI primarily as an engine for economic development, a stance reflected in the high optimism scores despite varying levels of daily usage.
Vietnam’s rapid adoption of AI, coupled with a 12% daily‑use rate, was described by Edward Lim of NUS Enterprise as evidence of the country’s openness to new technologies. In Singapore, rising concerns have emerged as reports of AI agents behaving unpredictably circulate, suggesting that public sentiment can shift quickly.