Americans are mostly negative on AI and oppose new data centers near them, another poll shows.

As far as public opinion goes, artificial intelligence is not a bed of roses. With the Nov. 3 elections looming nationwide, an issue that was barely a blip a year ago has become a full-blown backlash and a likely spoiler in the midterm elections.

A new poll from ABC News, the Washington Post and Ipsos found that a majority of Americans (57%) believe AI is bad for society, with many more pointing to its dangers than the potential benefits the tech could bring. An even larger number of those polled (66%) are opposed to the construction of new data centers in the US, and more (72%) would be opposed if it were in their community.

Opposition to AI crosses party lines. The technology has faced a surge in public disapproval this year, putting political candidates on blast and potentially affecting outcomes in key races, political and polling experts told CNET.

Ambivalence about AI also feeds into negativity toward data centers, which have, in a short time, become a rare bipartisan issue everyone’s talking about, according to Christopher Lee, partner and senior political strategist for Foresight Strategic Advisors.

Lee, who has closely followed election trends in southwestern states such as Nevada and Arizona, said the issue of data centers — massive AI server and compute farms that consume vast electricity and water resources — is going to “hammer” some candidates, especially those who weren’t transparent with constituents in the past about the cost to communities.

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