Fathom's Inaugural Report: Summary

A Note from Andrew Freedman, Fathom Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer

Far too often the conversations within D.C. and Silicon Valley are out of sync with the rest of the country. Some of this is natural– those most invested in an interest area have a greater understanding of the issues, and have often advanced a conversation beyond the public dialogue. This becomes problematic, however, with AI, where the decisions made may have a dramatic effect on national security, democracy, the economy, and everyday lives. With its insights work, Fathom not only hopes to inform D.C. and Silicon Valley about which issues the public cares about, but also to understand where more education is needed in order to help the public develop more informed opinions. That said, polling is an important, but limited, tool when it comes to taking the public’s temperature. For this, and for future insights work, Fathom will marry quantitative data like polls with more qualitative work like focus groups, individual interviews, and solicited feedback.

The topline findings from the poll and qualitative work are in bold below. What they show is a public that is equal parts excited by and skeptical of AI, and that has many concerns and a desire to see guardrails in place as a result. However, the public does not believe that the government is well equipped to create those guardrails at present. It is also ambivalent toward AI companies’ ability to do so. It is looking for a broader set of voices to set policy