随著人工智慧迅速从边缘走向主流，美国约半数成年人已在使用AI聊天机器人，但社会对此技术的不安情绪也同步升高。史丹佛大学2025年的研究显示，超过半数全球受访者表示AI产品令他们感到紧张，较2022年的39%显著上升。在西方国家尤其明显，越来越多人像珠宝设计师瓦妮莎·瓦利尔科一样，基于数据隐私、环境影响及对人类创造力的侵蚀等理由，坚决拒绝使用AI，这种抗拒甚至导致她与朋友和家人之间的关系出现裂痕。

AI的使用正逐渐成为一种价值观的代理指标，深刻影响著人际关系与职场动态。卡内基梅隆大学伦理学教授德里克·莱本指出，驱使人们对持不同政治信念者产生敌意的心理机制，如今也开始塑造人们对AI的态度，职场中出现了所谓的「AI怀疑」现象。在创意产业，反AI情绪尤为强烈——沃顿商学院的研究发现，虽然ChatGPT能提升个人构想的品质，却使群体产出的想法趋于同质化，削弱了突破性创新所需的多样性。名人公开谴责AI，艺术家和作家则对AI公司提起版权诉讼。

许多大型企业正将AI使用纳入员工考核，埃森哲和星巴克等公司甚至将升迁或奖金与AI使用挂钩，这在拥抱技术者与抗拒者之间制造了新的职场裂痕。社会心理学家杰瑞米·波拉克认为，围绕AI的分歧很少源于技术本身的功能，而是来自人们赋予它的道德意涵——「我们对一个工具的分歧」悄然演变为「他们不认同我的价值观」。约会应用Hily的调查也显示，多数Z世代和千禧世代表示不愿与日常决策依赖AI的人约会，显示AI立场正成为个人身份认同的一部分。

Artificial intelligence has surged from niche curiosity to mainstream fixture at remarkable speed, with roughly half of US adults now using AI chatbots and one in four relying on them daily. Yet this rapid adoption has bred widespread anxiety: a 2025 Stanford study found that over half of global respondents feel nervous about AI-powered products, up sharply from 39% in 2022. In Western nations especially, this unease has fueled a growing culture of refusal, exemplified by individuals like jewelry designer Vanessa Walilko, whose fierce opposition to AI—rooted in concerns about data privacy, environmental harm, and the erosion of creativity—has strained her relationships with friends and family.

For a growing number of people, attitudes toward AI are becoming intertwined with personal identity and moral values. Carnegie Mellon ethics professor Derek Leben observes that the psychological mechanisms driving political polarization are now shaping views on AI, spawning phenomena like 'AI suspicion' in the workplace. The backlash is particularly intense in creative fields: research from Wharton shows that while ChatGPT can enhance individual ideas, it homogenizes group output, undermining the diversity essential for innovation. Celebrities have publicly condemned AI, and artists and authors have filed copyright lawsuits against AI companies, reflecting deep-seated resentment across creative communities.

Corporate mandates are intensifying the divide, as companies like Accenture and Starbucks tie promotions and bonuses to AI adoption, leaving resistant employees feeling coerced and anxious about their futures. Social psychologist Jeremy Pollack argues that AI disagreements rarely stem from the technology's capabilities but from the moral significance people assign to it—disagreements about a tool quietly morph into judgments about shared values. Dating surveys reveal that majorities of Gen Z and millennial respondents would avoid partners who depend on AI for personal decisions, suggesting that one's stance on AI is increasingly functioning as a marker of identity. Pollack notes that those who navigate these tensions successfully prioritize the relationship over the argument, choosing curiosity over persuasion.