ELEQUINT QUARTERLY / AI PERSUADABLES
Where AI opinion sits. And what moves it.
AI Persuadables is Elequint's quarterly benchmark of American public opinion on artificial intelligence.
Each wave fields the same instrument, so movement between waves is movement in opinion rather than movement in measurement. Wave One establishes the baseline.
WAVE ONE / Q3 2026 · N=1,350 U.S. ADULTS · FIELDED BY YOUGOV, AUGUST 3–13, 2026 · MOE ±3.0
ORIENTATION / W01
The largest group hasn't made up its mind.
39%
SAY IT DEPENDSAsked whether AI's benefits outweigh its risks, the single biggest answer is neither yes nor no. The unsure bloc is larger than either committed side. On the defining question of the technology, the plurality of the country has not arrived anywhere yet.
LEGITIMACY / W01
Nobody has standing to write the rules.
6%
TRUST AI COMPANIES MOST TO GET THE RULES RIGHT
Neither government nor industry has established legitimacy on AI governance. With no trusted author for AI rules, the messenger does very little of the persuasive work and the framing does almost all of it.
Mobilization / W01
The loudest worry is the weakest motivator.
54%
EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT DEEPFAKES. THE HIGHEST OF EIGHT ISSUES
Deepfakes and misinformation generate the highest concern in the country. But when respondents must choose the issue that concerns them most, and then the one they would actually act on, the ranking moves. Data centers gain five points. Deepfakes lose nearly five. What the public says worries them about AI does not predict what they will act on.
SEGMENTATION / W01
Most of the country is still reachable.
62%
PERSUADABLE MIDDLE10% ACCELERATIONIST · 29% RESTRICTIONIST · 62% PERSUADABLE MIDDLE
Being out of play requires two things: a settled direction on AI, and a settled mind. Missing either one leaves someone reachable. By that definition the majority of the public remains in play — not because they are disengaged, but because their view is still forming or held loosely enough to move.
BEYOND THE PUBLIC BRIEF
What moves people is a different question.
The public brief shows where opinion sits. Elequint subscribers get the intelligence behind where it can move: the complete randomized experiments, message library, audience segmentation, crosstabs and strategic interpretation.