For example, 75% of experts say the people who design AI take men’s perspectives into account at least somewhat well – but 44% say this about women’s views. And the public is more likely than the experts we surveyed to expect AI-related job loss for occupations like musicians, teachers and medical doctors. Fewer than half of U.S. adults and experts alike say there will be job loss in each of these areas, though. We did not receive enough responses from Hispanic or Black experts to be able to report expert views by race and ethnicity; this reflects the racial and ethnic makeup of the field.
The next largest job group for H-1B workers approved in 2023 is architecture, engineering and surveying (9%). Examples of these include jobs in electrical or electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial engineering. Roughly three-quarters (73%) of H-1B workers whose applications were approved in fiscal 2023 were born in India.
How likely are people to use streaming services in the future?
Increased shares of Black voters who favored Trump were driven not by individuals shifting their preferences, but by changes in who turned out to vote. While some Black voters did indeed switch from Biden in 2020 to Trump in 2024, these defections were largely canceled out by Black voters who switched in the opposite direction. In addition to debate about experts’ role in policymaking, there’s no consensus over how much public attitudes should inform science policy. While GOP ratings of scientists remain much lower than they were before the pandemic, there has been a slight improvement in trust over the last year. The share with a great deal or fair amount of confidence is up 5 points since October 2023, from 61% to 66%. Americans also aren’t convinced scientists make better policy decisions on science issues than other people – just 43% think this is the case.
Confidence ratings for scientists are even slightly higher than those for public school principals and police officers – two groups that receive positive overall ratings. A larger majority of Democrats than Republicans express confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests (88% vs. 66%). New York far outpaces other metropolitan areas in the number of H-1B applications approved in 2023. The Washington, D.C., and San Jose, California, metro areas had the next-highest totals, with more than 30,000 approvals each. Denial rates peaked at 15% in fiscal 2018, during Trump’s first administration. That included 24% of new applications for initial employment and 12% of renewal applications for continuing employment.
Americans lean toward keeping legal immigration steady, see high-skilled workers as a priority
Unaffiliated voters continued to favor the Democratic candidate, with 70% voting for Harris and 28% voting for Trump. Four years earlier, 71% of religiously unaffiliated voters selected Biden and 26% selected Trump. Educational differences among White and Hispanic voters, but not Black voters. White noncollege voters were about 20 points more likely to support Trump than those with a four-year degree; that is similar to the difference four years ago. Noncollege Hispanic voters also were more likely to back Trump than Hispanic voters with college degrees, but the gap was smaller than among White voters. There were no meaningful educational differences among Black voters.
- This gap has closed primarily due to a decline in trust among White Republicans – driving overall levels of trust among White adults lower – rather than an increase in trust among Black adults.
- The largest share of users (44%) say the streaming services they use are worth the cost, while 31% say they’re not.
- In this analysis, the term “H-1B worker” refers to foreign workers whose H-1B applications were approved in a given fiscal year.
For metropolitan areas not defined in the IPUMS data, we used data from published Census Bureau tables (Table B24060). “Denied applications” refer to H-1B applications that were denied in a given fiscal year. The data for denials only includes applications whose first decision from USCIS is a denial. These findings come from government data, some of which we received through a public records request. The public also sees men’s views as better represented than women’s, even as about four-in-ten are unsure. The research and development gaap shares of U.S. adults who say they’re unsure range from 13% to 26%, depending on the job.
This is consistent with the different levels of confidence Democrats and Republicans have in scientists generally. Some negative traits also register with many Americans in their assessments. About half of Americans (49%) say “socially awkward” describes most research scientists well, and 47% have the impression that scientists feel superior to others. Smaller shares view research scientists as cold, closed-minded or inattentive to the moral values of society.
Americans continue to have doubts about climate scientists’ understanding of climate change
About three-quarters of U.S. adults and AI experts alike say that over the next 20 years, AI will lead to fewer jobs of this kind in the U.S. About half or more also say this for journalists, software engineers and factory workers. To help make sure we heard from a range of voices, we also conducted 30 in-depth interviews with experts who responded to the survey.
What do Americans think about legal immigration?
His support among Hispanic voters was 12 points higher than in 2020 (48% in 2024, 36% in 2020). And the share voting for the Democratic candidate fell from 61% to 51%. White men favored Trump by a margin of 20 points in the most recent election. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to assess research scientists positively on their traits and characteristics.
Trump in 2024 won a larger share of voters who attend religious services at least once a month than he did in 2020. Independents (including those who lean toward one party or the other) were evenly divided in 2024, with 48% voting for Harris and 48% for Trump. Consistent with other recent elections, younger voters tended to favor the Democratic candidate while older voters tended to favor the Republican. Four-in-ten Asian voters (40%) cast ballots for Trump, up from 30% in 2020.
This marked a shift from four years ago, when naturalized citizens backed Biden by a wide 59%-38% margin. Among frequent attenders, Trump’s share of voters increased to 64% from 59% in 2020. College graduates and non-college graduates alike were slightly less likely to vote for the Democratic candidate compared with four years earlier. Asian men and women favored Harris by nearly identical margins (16 and 17 points, respectively).
From political speeches to songs, how would Americans react if they found out AI was involved?
- Two-thirds of Republicans and Republican leaners say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest.
- This is a decline from 2016, when six of the top 10 companies had ties to India.
- Still, levels of confidence in scientists remain lower than in April 2020 – at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The current survey marks a slight uptick (+3 points) in the share who support an active policy role for scientists.
- For example, the AI experts we surveyed are far more likely than Americans overall to believe AI will have a very or somewhat positive impact on the United States over the next 20 years (56% vs. 17%).
- Noncollege Hispanic voters also were more likely to back Trump than Hispanic voters with college degrees, but the gap was smaller than among White voters.
The Appendix also includes views of medical scientists, whose ratings are very similar to those for scientists generally. Overall, 45% of U.S. adults describe research scientists as good communicators. A slightly larger share (52%) say this phrase does not describe research scientists well. In addition, about two-thirds (65%) view research scientists as honest and 71% view them as skilled at working in teams. The geographic location of H-1B approvals is based on the location of the employer.
And while 47% of experts surveyed say they are more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life, that share drops to 11% among the public. Here are the key findings from surveys of U.S. adults and AI experts conducted in 2024, and in-depth interviews with experts. The largest share of users (44%) say the streaming services they use are worth the cost, while 31% say they’re not. Trump also benefited from changing turnout patterns – though not from significant defections – among suburban voters.
Attendance at religious services
The ATP is a panel survey, meaning that we have interviewed many of the same respondents after each national election going back to 2016. This allows us to examine how individuals changed their turnout or candidate preferences over time. For more on how the study was conducted, read the report’s methodology. For more about terms used in the report, refer to the terminology box. As with scientists’ policy role, Republicans and Democrats express contrasting views of scientists’ judgment.
