Wyoming residents are searching about artificial intelligence more frequently than people in any other US state when adjusted for population. The state recorded 4,681 annual AI-related searches per 100,000 residents, with questions about healthcare, job security and AI taking over the world contributing to growing public interest.
A study by VIP-Grinders analysed 47 AI-related search terms using Google Ads Keyword Planner to measure concerns across the US. The research covered topics including privacy, employment, healthcare and AI safety, finding an estimated 1.13 million searches nationwide each year.
Wyoming tops US AI anxiety rankings
Wyoming takes first place with 4,681 searches per 100,000 inhabitants, just slightly above Vermont, which scored 4,292. Both states, despite having lower numbers of people living there, register around 27,000 and 27,600 searches related to artificial intelligence annually.
Alaska is ranked third with 3,599.7 searches per 100,000 inhabitants, North Dakota is fourth with 3,466 and South Dakota is fifth with 3,113. Delaware, Rhode Island, Montana, Maine and New Hampshire round off the list.
The picture is quite another one when the number of total searches is taken into account. The state that takes first place in this case is California, with 464,400 searches, but drops to 25th after adjustments. New York and Texas each register 308,400 searches annually.
Healthcare is by far the most common search keyword in relation to AI in the study. The search term “AI in healthcare” is found to be searched about 21,400 times each month, which equals about 250,000 searches per year.
The fear of an AI take-over in the world comes in second place. The statistics show that there is a much smaller interest in this matter, being almost three times less common than fears about the use of AI in healthcare.
While many people talk about the automation of work and the loss of jobs related to it, it turns out that there are significantly fewer searches about it than those about AI taking control of the planet.
“Will AI take my job” is searched almost five times less often each year than “Will AI take over the world.” In addition, fears about AI doctors and AI programmers are still searched for 21,600 times a year.
Meanwhile, the term “superintelligence” attracts 45,600 annual searches, although it remains a relatively niche subject compared with broader concerns about AI’s future.
