Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and Politics 

February 23, 2023

THIS SURVEY EXPLORES CANADIANS’ AND AMERICANS’ PERSPECTIVES ON AI TOOLS AND POLITICS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES.  

Recently, Chat GPT and other tools like Google Bard have been making many Canadian and American headlines.  

With this in mind, we took a deeper dive into Canadians’ and Americans’ perspectives on AI tools in general. Our latest North American Tracker explores their usage, familiarity and opinions on these types of tools (including whether they’re good or bad for society). 

We also surveyed Canadians and Americans about politics in their respective countries.  

Download the report for the full results.  

This survey was conducted in collaboration with the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) and published in the Canadian Press. This series of surveys is available on Leger’s website. 

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS

  • Canadians and Americans tend to be uncertain about whether AI tools are good or bad for society:
    • 36% of Canadians and 32% of Americans say they are good
    • 25% of Canadians and 25% of Americans say they are bad
    • 39% of Canadians and 43% of Americans don’t know or refused to answer
  • Canadians and Americans are most likely to trust AI tools (a great deal or somewhat) to complete tasks at home or answer questions about products/services via a website chat. They are least likely to trust them to teach their children or help them find a life partner online.
  • Canadians are most concerned that AI tools lack the emotion/empathy required to make good decisions (75% agree) and/or are susceptible to fraud/hacking (72% agree). Americans are most concerned that they are susceptible to fraud/hacking (73% agree) and/or threaten human jobs (72% agree). 
Opinion on AI tools Statistics Canadians Americans

CANADIAN POLITICS 

  • If a federal election were held today, 35% of Canadian decided voters would vote for Poilievre’s CPC and 32% would vote for Trudeau’s LPC.  
  • Canadians think Justin Trudeau (24%) would be the best prime minister, closely followed by Pierre Poilievre (21%).*

AMERICAN POLITICS 

  • For the 2024 presidential election, Trump is currently the most preferred Republican candidate among American Republican voters and Biden is currently the most preferred Democratic candidate among American democrat voters.**
  • Inflation (65%) and the U.S. economy (59%) are Americans’ biggest concerns right now. 
*Data collection for this question took place over three weeks, from January 20 to February 12, 2023.
**Republican voters are those who plan to vote Republican in the 2024 presidential election, Democrat voters are those who plan to vote Democrat in the election.  

METHODOLOGY 

This web survey was conducted from February 10-12, 2023, with 1,539 Canadians and 1,000 Americans, 18 years of age or older, randomly recruited from LEO’s online panel. 

A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. For comparison, a probability sample of 1,539 respondents would have a margin of error of ±2.50%, 19 times out of 20, while a probability sample of 1,000 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.09%, 19 times out of 20. 

THIS REPORT CONTAINS THE RESULTS FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AND MORE! 

  • How familiar are you with each of the following types of AI tools? 
  • Overall, do you think AI tools are… 
  • To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about AI tools? 
  • If FEDERAL elections were held today, for which political party would you be most likely to vote? Would it be for…?  
  • What are the top three things that most concern you right now? 

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