Morning Consult
AI Trust in Action

Seeing AI work changes the story

Morning Consult tested whether 65 real-world, positive examples of AI already at work — in medicine, fraud prevention, disaster response, and more — increase trust in AI. Respondents started skeptical. After reviewing the examples, trust moved substantially.

N=1,522 U.S. adults
Sept 15–16, 2026
±3% margin of error
For more information, contact Kyle Dropp (kyle@morningconsult.com)
TOP AI USE CASES
Health & fraud prevention
The real-world AI examples that build trust the most are centered on health care (early cancer detection, sepsis prediction) and fraud prevention (Medicare, veterans, banking).
IMPACT OF EXPOSURE
+14 points
Adults hold a more positive view of AI and AI companies after seeing real examples — trust in AI rose from 41% to 55% saying they trust it at least "a good amount."
LOW AWARENESS
~7 in 10
About seven in ten adults said they had not heard anything about most of the real-world AI examples tested before this survey — even the ones that moved trust the most.

Trust in AI, before and after seeing the examples

"Overall, how much do you trust AI to do what is right?"

Before

After

A great deal A good amount Not very much Not at all

Trust in AI companies, before and after

"Overall, how much do you trust AI companies (e.g., OpenAI, Google, Anthropic) to do what is right?"

Before

After

The five examples that moved trust most

Across 65 real-world AI examples tested, these produced the largest share of adults saying their trust in AI increased "a lot" or "somewhat."

Where AI earns trust

"Below are real examples of AI in use today. For each, how much does it increase your trust in AI, if at all?" — every example tested, organized into eight areas of real-world AI use. Each bar shows the share whose trust increased "a lot" (dark) or "somewhat" (light); the score is the combined total.

Where trust moves most, by audience

The single real-world AI example that increased trust the most within each group.

The awareness gap: biggest trust lift, least familiar

Examples where trust impact is high but most adults hadn't heard of them before this survey — the clearest opportunity for AI companies to tell an unfamiliar story.

Example
Trust lift
Never heard of it

What would most increase trust in AI companies

Single response, among all adults

How often adults use AI chatbots

ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Meta AI, and similar tools