Pennsylvanians wary of artificial intelligence and data centers

Artificial intelligence and the proliferation of massive data centers needed to power it have become major topics of discussion across the nation recently.

And according to a newly released Franklin & Marshall College poll, Pennsylvania residents have some major concerns about both.

The poll, released today, shows that 84% of registered voters believe artificial intelligence companies should be more closely regulated by the federal government and that 76% of registered voters are nervous about recent developments in artificial intelligence.

The poll also shows that 79% of registered voters oppose having a data center built in their community.

A total of 66% of registered voters believe technological changes like smartphones, social media and artificial intelligence have had a more negative than positive impact on society as a whole.

State and local officials have taken note of the public’s worries about rapidly changing technology and the impact it could have on local communities.

With data centers a major topic in the recent national discourse, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro last week took action to create a stricter environment for them in the state and to promote transparency.

A sweeping executive order asks developers to sign agreements saying they will meet clean energy and job creation requirements; requires developers to show proof of local approvals before they can receive any state permits or authorizations and puts conditions on Pennsylvania’s data center sales tax exemption.

The order also bans agencies under the governor’s control from signing non-disclosure agreements in connection with data center projects and removes data centers from the governor’s Fast Track program, an initiative to speed up permitting of major projects.

Locally, Reading in July put a six-month moratorium on new data center proposals and Cumru Township in April passed the county’s first data center ordinance that regulates how and where developers can build data centers in the township.

Included in the latest Franklin & Marshall College poll is a detailed explanation of how the survey was conducted:

The survey findings presented in this release are based on the results of interviews conducted Aug. 17 through 23. The interviews were conducted at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.

The poll was designed and administered by the staff of the Center for Opinion Research. The data included in this release represent the responses of 501 registered Pennsylvania voters, including 213 Democrats, 208 Republicans and 80 independents.

The sample of registered voters was obtained from Aristotle. All sampled respondents were notified by mail about the survey. Interviews were completed over the phone and online depending on each respondent’s preference.

Survey results were weighted (age, gender, education, geography and party registration) using an algorithm to reflect the known distribution of those characteristics among state voters. Estimates for age, geography and party registration are based on active voters within the Pennsylvania Department of State’s voter registration data.

The sample error for this survey is 5.5 percentage points when the design effects from weighting are considered.