Results highlight public demand for safeguards as the Pentagon expands use of AI
A new national poll released today by Americans for Responsible Innovation finds overwhelming concerns among American voters about the use of AI for government surveillance and for autonomous weapons without human oversight. The survey finds that 75% of Americans agree that decisions about using lethal force in war should involve meaningful human judgment rather than being left entirely to AI systems. Meanwhile, 76% say they are concerned that AI tools could enable unprecedented government surveillance of American citizens.
The results suggest that while Americans recognize AI will play an expanding role in national security, they also want clear safeguards to ensure it is used responsibly.
“The message from the public is clear: Americans want the benefits of AI, but they also want safeguards to ensure these technologies are used responsibly and in ways that reflect democratic values,” said Brad Carson, president of Americans for Responsible Innovation. “The public overwhelmingly supports limits on AI’s use for domestic surveillance and mandatory human oversight of autonomous weapons. Those principles should guide how policymakers design the rules governing AI in the military today, which will shape America’s fighting power for decades to come.”
The poll comes amid a dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic, in which the Pentagon has barred use of the Anthropic’s AI model over the company’s refusal to allow its use for domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Last week, a bipartisan group of former defense and intelligence officials, including Brad Carson and ARI Vice President of Policy Morgan Plummer, sent a letter to Congress calling for an investigation into the Department of War’s decision to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk due to the AI company’s red lines.
The survey was conducted by Morning Consult from March 6–8, 2026, among a national sample of 2,200 U.S. adults. The margin of error is ±2 percentage points. The full poll is available here.
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Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Learn more at ARI.us.