WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the issues American voters are thinking about most heading into the midterms, according to a new poll showing it now ranks just behind food prices, gasoline prices, war, basic survival and the release of Grand Theft Auto VI.
Researchers said the results demonstrate that voters are increasingly aware of AI’s potential to reshape employment, education, national security and society generally, provided several more immediate matters can first be resolved.
“People absolutely care about artificial intelligence,” pollster Rebecca Sloan said. “They’re just currently more concerned with whether they can afford groceries, whether another war starts, and whether GTA 6 gets delayed again.”
Among respondents listing their most urgent concerns, food prices remained dominant, followed closely by gasoline prices, armed conflict and what researchers categorized broadly as “basic survival.”
GTA 6 ranked immediately ahead of artificial intelligence.
“AI scares me,” Ohio voter Kevin Bradley said. “It could take my job someday.”
Bradley paused.
“But I heard they improved the five-star wanted level, so right now I’m mostly focused on seeing how many cars I can steal before I get wasted.”
Researchers said Bradley’s response was representative of a broader pattern in which voters expressed genuine concern about emerging technology but struggled to prioritize hypothetical future disruption over matters they considered more immediate.
The survey found particularly strong concern about GTA 6 among voters ages 18 to 44, several of whom told researchers they had already survived multiple presidential administrations while waiting for the game.
Political strategists said the findings suggest candidates may need to broaden their messaging beyond traditional concerns such as inflation, foreign policy and technological disruption.
“We clearly need to speak to voters about the transformation of the American economy,” one strategist said. “But we also need a position on whether you should lose the cops by hiding in a parking garage.”
AI researchers nevertheless welcomed the issue’s strong showing.
“Sixth is actually remarkable,” technology policy analyst Daniel Cho said. “We were within striking distance of ‘basic survival,’ which is encouraging.”
Asked what would cause artificial intelligence to move higher on the list, voters overwhelmingly selected:
“If it raises the price of food.”
