Human Purpose in Peril

A new nationwide survey by Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center (ITDF) reveals U.S. adults’ attitudes about the expanding use of LLMs and their deepening impact on essential aspects of being human: human connection, purpose, agency and critical thinking. 

• Fears of fracturing human connection: 69% of U.S. adults said that AI will weaken human-to-human bonds a lot (33%) or somewhat (36%)
• The threat to human purpose: 64% agreed with the statement “By replacing human beings in most tasks, AI will undermine our sense of purpose and meaning in life.” Some 36% agreed with an opposing statement: “By freeing human beings from most routine tasks, AI will allow us to find greater purpose and meaning in life.”
• Low confidence in retaining human agency: 55% said they are not confident that their fellow humans will retain their ability to think critically and evaluate information vs. 15% who are confident about that.
• A double-edged sword for users: Many large language model (LLM) users admitted to worrisome personal behavioral shifts
• Overall adoption continued to grow: 65% of U.S. adults said they used a large language model (LLM) in the past week – up from 52% in early 2025.
• AI’s expanding footprint in everyday life: 63% of Americans said AI already heavily influences their daily routine (18%) or that they expect it will within the next five years (45%). On the other hand, 16% said they expect AI will never significantly impact them.