Stanford AI Index 2026: 73% of Experts Positive on AI Jobs vs 23% of Public, Gen Z Excitement Collapses

TechCrunch·high signal

Stanford HAI's 2026 AI Index documents a dramatic widening of the expert-public disconnect: 73% of AI experts feel positive about AI's impact on jobs versus just 23% of the public, and 69% of experts are positive on economic impact versus 21% of the public. Gen Z sentiment collapsed — excitement dropped from 36% to 22% and anger rose from 22% to 31% year-over-year. The US reported the lowest trust in government AI regulation at 31%, and China has effectively erased the US lead in AI research output.