Elon University

A new nationwide survey by Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center (ITDF) reveals U.S. adults’ attitudes about the expanding use of LLMs and their deepening impact on essential aspects of being human: human connection, purpose, agency and critical thinking. 

Among the 27% of U.S. adults who use AI systems for social, emotional and personal purposes, a third consider their AI as a friend. Many have other striking views:

• 59% Agreed that “AI gives me the support I need”
• 53% Agreed that they “turn to AI for advice on how to handle difficult situations with other people”
• 50% Agreed that they use AI to “talk through personal problems or feelings”

The vast majority of expert respondents in a 2026 survey by the Imagining the Digital Future Center said humans need to build a highly coordinated resilience infrastructure for the AI Age to counterbalance the human and systemic challenges posed by widespread AI adoption. Some 82% said AI will play a significantly larger role in shaping people’s lives and key societal functions in the next 10 years or less. They urged an “institutions-first” resilience agenda because the most significant problems arise from a life-encircling AI infrastructure.

A new survey of college and university faculty nationwide finds widespread concern and skepticism about how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is affecting their teaching and student performance across academic disciplines. Key findings include:

Seventy-eight percent of American adults expect abuses of artificial intelligence systems (AIs) that will affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, according to a new national survey by the Elon Poll and the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University. The survey finds: