Poll: Pennsylvanians believe AI will hurt the economy
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Nearly twice as many Pennsylvanians believe AI will hurt the economy compared to those who believe it will provide a boost, according to a November poll conducted by Real Clear Pennsylvania and Emerson College.
Why it matters: AI is becoming a big part of the state's economy — with tech unicorns singing its praises and data centers proliferating — but residents are wary.
The big picture: 48% of Pennsylvania adults believe AI will negatively impact the economy, and 5% think it will have a more positive impact.
- 5% said it would have no impact, and 22% were unsure.
Zoom in: 55% think AI will take away jobs from the industry they work in, compared to 16% who think it will increase jobs and 29% who believe it will have no impact.
State of play: Local, state and national leaders are bullish on AI's potential economic impact.
- Republican Sen. Dave McCormick hosted President Trump and Gov. Josh Shapiro at Carnegie Mellon University last summer for a conference announcing $90 billion in investment in the state's natural gas and AI fields.
- Data center investment is tapping into the state's nuclear power plants, including restarting the plant at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg.
- East Liberty and Larimer are undergoing large-scale development upgrades to attract more AI companies to Pittsburgh.
Between the lines: Pennsylvanians have several concerns about data centers, but aren't outright against them.
- 71% of Pennsylvanians are concerned about the amount of electricity data centers use.
- 26% said their biggest concern is environmental impacts: carbon emissions, heat and water use of data centers.
- 61% believe that data centers will create jobs.
Friction point: Data center development has attracted pushback in some local municipalities, like Springdale.
- When asked in the poll if Pennsylvanians support data centers being built in or near their community, 42% oppose and 34% support; 24% are neutral or have no opinion.
The fine print: The poll surveyed 2,000 Pennsylvania adults via text and online voter panels on Nov. 19-23. The margin of error was +/- 2 percentage points.