公众对人工智慧的反感部分源于其糟糕的日常体验，例如令人沮丧的自动化客服系统。虽然少数精英将AI视为改变生活的奇迹，但多数人只将其视为降低服务品质以增加企业利润的工具，甚至在某些情况下透过监控定价来损害消费者利益，而成功的AI应用则往往隐形于日常生活中而被忽略。

这种现象反映了人们如何理解风险，正如核能尽管安全记录良好却仍令人恐惧。心理学研究指出，公众对科技的恐惧取决于风险是否自愿承担、是否可控，以及承担风险者是否为受益者。AI在这些方面表现糟糕，因为多数人觉得自己未经同意就被迫接受了这项技术，而只有少数开发者和企业能从中获利并掌控一切。

业界内部的警告加剧了这种担忧，但高层承诺的廉价智能却未能安抚大众，反而让人想起过去对核能的不切实际承诺。如果AI继续被视为一种令人恐惧且未经公众同意的风险，它可能会面临与核能相同的命运，受到法规或公众反弹的阻碍；因此，业界领袖需要更多地与受其技术影响的普通民众对话，而不是仅仅在同温层内自说自话。

Public backlash against artificial intelligence partly stems from poor everyday experiences, such as frustrating automated customer service systems. While a small elite views AI as a life-changing marvel, most people see it as a tool used by companies to degrade service quality for profit, or even harm consumers through surveillance pricing, while successful AI applications often blend invisibly into daily life and go unnoticed.

This phenomenon reflects how people perceive risk, much like the fear of nuclear power despite its strong safety record. Psychological studies suggest that public dread of a technology depends on whether the risk is assumed voluntarily, is controllable, and whether those bearing the risk also reap the benefits. AI scores poorly on all these fronts, as most people feel forced to accept the technology without consent, while only a few developers and corporations control it and profit from it.

Internal warnings from the industry have amplified these concerns, and executives' promises of cheap intelligence have failed to reassure the public, instead echoing past unrealistic promises about nuclear energy. If AI continues to be viewed as a dreaded risk imposed without public consent, it may face the same fate as nuclear power, hindered by regulations or public backlash; therefore, industry leaders must spend more time engaging with the ordinary people affected by their technology rather than just talking within their own bubble.