09 March 2026

Season 8, Post 9: How we really feel about AI

Ask anyone about the future and the conversation is likely to come around to AI before not long. If anything, the key debates about its additive versus destructive potential have only intensified as the technology itself has advanced (note, this piece was edited by Copilot). We have highlighted recently in our own work the huge sums of money being committed to data centre builds and also the reality that behind every algorithm lies a set of human choices.

But what do people really feel about AI? We have long been fans of “The Future 100” an annual document published by creative consultancy VML. The agency set out to answer this question by interviewing consumers across 16 countries. Our reading of the findings is straightforward: people appear both excited and confused about AI, and do not yet understand its full societal impact.

Almost three-quarters of respondents believe that “technology can make the world a better place” yet a similar proportion feel “we are rushing into using AI without thinking through the consequences.” Both these statements can of course be true at the same time. While 58% say they “trust AI to act in the best interests of humanity”, an even larger share believe that “AI is making it impossible to understand what is true in the world.”

We have long argued that no new technology should ever be thought of as a panacea. AI is best understood as being a tool: a means to an end, enhancing productivity and augmenting human potential, albeit in very powerful ways. 81% of respondents say AI has helped them create content they otherwise couldn’t have made. We do, however, worry for the 37% of people polled who “can see themselves falling in love with an AI companion.”

10 March 2026

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Alex Gunz, Fund Manager

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