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Bentley-Gallup Survey Reveals Americans Have Real Concerns About Artificial Intelligence

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Few trust businesses to use it responsibly, but transparency could help

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Americans continue to see few upsides to using artificial intelligence in business. The latest survey from Bentley University and Gallup shows that U.S. adults see more harm than good from the use of AI, believe it will cost U.S. jobs and do not trust businesses to use it responsibly.

However, the study also suggests that businesses could help alleviate some of Americans’ concerns about AI by providing greater transparency into how they are using it.

Key Findings

Americans still see more harm than good from AI, but fewer see it as harmful.

The majority of Americans (56%) believe AI has a net neutral effect — doing equal amounts of harm and good. But they are more than twice as likely to believe it does more harm than good (31%) as they are to believe the good of AI outweighs its harms (13%).

The percentage of those who believe AI is more harmful than helpful has decreased nine percentage points in the past year, from 40% to 31%. Most of this shift has been driven by Americans over the age of 30, while views among younger Americans remain mostly unchanged.

These findings, from the latest Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report, are based on a web survey with 5,835 U.S. adults conducted from April 29-May 6, 2024, using the probability-based Gallup Panel.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) report being at least somewhat knowledgeable about AI, including 9% saying they are extremely knowledgeable. Majorities in every age group of Americans say they are at least somewhat knowledgeable, but knowledge drops off sharply among those aged 60 and older. Men are more likely than women to say they are at least somewhat knowledgeable (72% vs. 57%, respectively).

Generally, those more knowledgeable about AI are less likely to express concern about its effects. However, even those who say they are extremely knowledgeable about AI are more likely to believe it does more harm than good than to say it does more good than harm (31% to 22%).

Most believe AI will cost the U.S. jobs and do not trust businesses to use it responsibly.

Three-quarters of Americans say AI will reduce the total number of jobs in the country over the next 10 years, the same as the percentage who said so last year. Also similar to last year, 77% of adults do not trust businesses much (44%) or at all (33%) to use AI responsibly. Additionally, nearly seven in 10 of those who are extremely knowledgeable about AI have little to no trust in businesses to use AI responsibly.

These are especially top-of-mind considerations for those who believe AI does more harm than good (AI skeptics). Those skeptics are 29 percentage points more likely than AI promoters (who see more good than harm) to believe AI will reduce jobs in the U.S. (88% vs. 59%, respectively). Also, AI skeptics are more than three times as likely as its promoters to say they do not trust businesses at all to use AI responsibly (55% vs. 16%, respectively).

Transparency could ease Americans’ worries about how AI is being used.

Americans express concerns about the use of AI in each of the six areas tested in the survey. Using AI to help students with homework or studying elicits the least worry, but two-thirds of adults find it at least somewhat concerning. At least eight in 10 adults are concerned about using AI for hiring decisions (85%), driving vehicles (83%) and recommending medical advice (80%).

But there are steps businesses can take to alleviate these concerns. When asked to choose from a list of actions that businesses can take to most reduce concerns about AI, Americans most frequently say companies should be transparent about how AI is being used in business practices (57%). No other strategy was chosen by more than 34% of respondents.

Bottom Line

Although fewer Americans today see AI as harmful than did so a year ago, they are still firmly wary of how it is being used in a multitude of settings, including the workplace. While Americans tend to be less skeptical of AI when they know more about it, providing transparency and being clear — rather than offering education — may benefit businesses more if they are trying to convince the public that they can use AI responsibly.

Survey Methods:

Results for the 2024 Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report are based on a Gallup Panel web survey completed by 5,835 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 29-May 6, 2024. For results based on this sample of adults, the margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level is ±2.1 percentage points for response percentages around 50% and is ±1.3 percentage points for response percentages around 10% or 90%, design effect included. This report outlines preliminary findings from the survey.

2023 and 2022 results are from previous iterations of the Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report. In 2023, the survey was conducted May 8-15, 2023. For these results, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In 2022, the survey was conducted June 8-19, 2022. For these results, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, questions wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

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SOURCE BENTLEY UNIVERSITY

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Positive Perception of Term “All-Electric Home” Increases 12 Percentage Points in Recent Years, E Source Survey Finds

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November 14, 2024

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Research from the utilities-focused research, consulting, and data science company shows positive shift in homeowner perceptions of electrification technologies, though cost remains a barrier to fuel-switching. 

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — E Source, a utilities-focused consulting, research, and data science company, has shared the results of its 2024 Residential Electrification Survey, including a shift in consumer attitudes toward electrification technologies in residential settings. The independent study, first conducted in 2021, fielded in April 2024 with over 10,000 residential homeowner utility customers in the United States and Canada.  

Designed and administered by the E Source Market Research team, the survey offers findings around: 

Consumer perceptions of electrification technologies: Over three-quarters of respondents believe that electricity is a safer home and appliance fuel source than natural gas, an increase from 2021. Despite shifting perceptions, cost remains a barrier to fuel-switching.Current ownership of electrification equipment: More respondents say they own electric equipment in 2024 compared to 2021, with electric cooktops and smart thermostats reported as the most common electric appliances.Readiness for adoption: While many respondents said they were unlikely to switch fuel sources for most home equipment, 27% expressed interest in taking steps to electrify all their appliances.

In other notable findings, positive perception of the term “all-electric home” increased from 40% in 2021 to 51% in 2024. Additionally, over one-third of respondents would prefer homes with only electric appliances when choosing their next residence, with 63% stating that gas appliances contribute to indoor air pollution, an increase from 51% in 2021.  

However, despite the growing interest in electrification, cost remains the largest barrier to fuel-switching, with 76% of respondents believing that switching fuel sources of any kind in their home appliances would be costly. 

Utilities today are navigating fast-paced technological advancements, transitioning to cleaner energy sources, managing tighter budgets, and looking to meet heightened customer expectations. A systematic and targeted approach to electrification is central to successfully addressing these challenges.

“Electrification holds tremendous potential along with risks. Utilities can realize that potential and mitigate the risks by understanding how to best engage their customers in the energy transition. With in-depth market research like our Residential Electrification Survey, utilities can understand perceptions of electrification to promote the value of new technologies based on customer needs, beliefs, and behaviors,” said Filomena Gogel, President of research and advisory at E Source.  

An overview of the insights is publicly available in a downloadable eBook here. Detailed findings are available in an industry report for members of the Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Strategy Service offered by E Source. 

About E Source 
E Source combines industry-leading research, data science, and consulting to help utilities make and implement better data-driven decisions that positively impact their customers, their bottom line, and our planet. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, E Source has teams across the US and Canada. Learn more at www.esource.com.

Media Contact:  
Adarsh Nalam, Director, Solutions Marketing and Communications  
adarsh_nalam@esource.com

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SOURCE E Source Companies LLC

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Ironclad Launches Jurist: an AI-Powered Assistant That Shows its Work

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40 minutes ago

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November 14, 2024

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The conversational AI assistant utilizes purpose-built multi-agent technology that works together to automate legal work, giving legal professionals a singular place to work with all the right tools and information in one seamless experience

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ironclad, the leading digital contracting platform for modern businesses, today announced the public launch of a new conversational AI legal assistant, Ironclad Jurist. Jurist allows legal professionals to draft, edit, review, summarize, translate, and answer questions related to modern contracting. Jurist is the only AI-powered assistant purpose-built for lawyers that lets users create and iterate on any legal document with past company precedent, benchmarks, and real-time changes in the legal space—all in an online, fully editable .docx workspace.

Jurist, built on Ironclad’s open-source visual programming platform Rivet, offers users unprecedented transparency into AI decision-making within a contract by displaying agent actions and reasoning, complete with citations in its online research mode. Leveraging industry-leading prompt routing, specialized legal prompt engineering, and a sophisticated retrieval automation generation (RAG) approach that harnesses multiple top-tier LLMs, Jurist is transforming the landscape of AI-assisted legal work.

“Jurist has already eliminated hours of manual review from our document review process. Its intuitive interface lets us easily define our own parameters, transforming tasks like NDA reviews into a streamlined workflow,” said Katelyn Canning, Director and Head of Legal at Ocrolus. “What truly sets it apart is its ability to select the most appropriate AI model for each task behind the scenes, delivering useful results without requiring us to craft intricate prompts. This combination of power and simplicity has made it an indispensable tool for our legal team.”

After a rigorous five-month beta, which included in-house legal teams at companies like Ocrolus and Signifyd, and leading law firms including Gunderson Dettmer, Jurist is now generally available. With Ironclad Jurist, users can:

Perform legal work in one central place: Jurist provides a new surface for lawyers to work with, iterate, draft, edit, research, and ask questions, all within a single environment. Users can directly edit AI outputs—and write prompts for specific sections of documents to fine-tune contract language—in a native .docx editor.Personalize AI outputs with past documents: Jurist produces personalized drafts, reviews, and edits based on the context users provide, including templates and executed agreements.Access the latest legal knowledge from verified online sources: Users can stay current with the ever-evolving legal landscape from the most reputable online legal research sources.Verify actions taken by your team of agents: Jurist explains its decisions in real time and cites sources when answering prompts, empowering users to use what they create with confidence.Work in a responsible, privacy-forward environment: Jurist does not allow companies like OpenAI or Google to retain or train on customer data. Ironclad provides customers with complete enterprise-grade security and holds numerous certifications, including several ISOs. Ironclad is also compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, and the SOC 2 Type II Security Trust Criteria. To learn more about Ironclad’s security certifications, click here.

“Legal is the perfect application for LLMs, because LLMs are exceptionally good at working with unstructured data – which is the lion’s share of the types of documents lawyers work with,” said Ironclad Chief Product Officer Michel Feaster. “We built Jurist to help bridge this gap, and wanted to create something that was congruent with the ways that lawyers are already working. Lawyers need to be able to edit in real-time in one place, or be able to ask questions about specific parts of a contract, or compare and edit groups of documents at the same time. And because Ironclad has been building technology for lawyers and optimizing contracts for 10 years, our AI agents are fine tuned to be best in class at legal editing.”

“Using Jurist has helped give us a singular workplace to drastically speed up many kinds of legal work,” said Zuhair Saadat, Contracts Manager at Signifyd. “For example, performing an MNDA review or drafting custom clauses for an order form typically takes an hour to a day. Using Jurist, we could do this in minutes—in some cases seconds—depending on complexity. If I need to edit the output, translate it, or ask a question about it, I can do that right in the product without leaving. It reduces time spent on these kinds of tasks, saves money on attorney fees, and gives me a leg up. Whatever I’m doing, I never have to start from scratch.”

“We’ve released Jurist as a standalone product, built on Ironclad architecture, because we feel this will benefit the entire legal community—whether they already use Ironclad or not,” said Ironclad President Jeremy Smith. “We are committed to enabling legal teams with the products they need to drive tangible business impact, and we believe Jurist will make a lasting impact on the future of the legal field.”

To learn more about Jurist and try it for yourself, click here.

About Ironclad
Ironclad is the #1 contract lifecycle management platform for innovative companies, powering billions of contracts every year. L’Oréal, OpenAI, and other leading innovators use Ironclad to collaborate and negotiate on contracts, accelerate contracting while maintaining compliance, and turn contracts into critical carriers of operational business intelligence. It’s the only platform flexible enough to handle every type of contract workflow, whether a sales agreement, an HR agreement or a complex NDA. The company is backed by leading investors like Accel, Sequoia, Franklin Templeton, Y Combinator, and BOND. For more information, visit www.ironcladapp.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Media Contact:
Paul Chalker
paul.chalker@ironcladhq.com

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SOURCE Ironclad Inc.

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Tom Atchison Honored as a Most Admired CEO by Denver Business Journal

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November 14, 2024

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GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — National Corporate Housing is thrilled to announce that Tom Atchison, our esteemed Founder and Chief Executive Officer, has been honored with the Most Admired CEO Award by the Denver Business Journal. This prestigious award recognizes leaders in the Denver area who demonstrate exceptional leadership, vision, and community impact within their industries and beyond.

Under Tom’s visionary leadership, National Corporate Housing has achieved significant growth and success while maintaining a strong commitment to ethical business practices and a people-first culture. He has fostered an environment that prioritizes employee development, customer satisfaction, and industry-leading service.

“Tom exemplifies the highest standards of leadership, integrity, and Surprisingly Superior Service,” said Misty Gregarek, President of National Corporate Housing. “Part of what makes National so special is Tom’s incredible talent for identifying potential in people and providing them opportunities to excel. This recognition is a testament to his unwavering dedication to our company’s mission and to making a positive impact on our employees, customers, and the community.”

Tom was recognized along with 20 other executives Wednesday night at an award dinner at the Ritz Carlton in Denver. We congratulate Tom on this well-deserved honor and look forward to continued success under his exceptional leadership.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Heidi Hume, Vice President, Marketing
703-727-9124 | hhume@nationalcorporatehousing.com

About National Corporate Housing: At National, we turn complex temporary housing challenges into seamless solutions. As a global leader in customized corporate housing since 1999, we provide personalized, 360-degree services that ensure your employees feel at home, wherever they are in the world. With our extensive network and local expertise, we make the unfamiliar comfortable, delivering exceptional experiences that transform clients into lifelong partners.

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SOURCE NATIONAL CORPORATE HOUSING

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