AN ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT LOOK BACK AT 2017

As 2017 comes to a close, the research team at Unanimous AI explored the events that made the biggest impact on Americans over the past year.  In a year that featured the deadliest mass shooting in American history and nuclear demonstrations by a nation that is widely considered to be both unstable and hostile to America, it is not surprising that the compelling narrative that emerged from this retrospective dealt with safety:  How safe do Americans feel today compared to a year ago? And what is driving their perception of safety?  That’s what the team wanted to know.

A word about methodology:  The following research was conducted using Swarm AI technology to combine the knowledge, wisdom, insights, and intuitions of a sample population into a single unified intelligence that can answer questions in real-time.  In this particular study, the sample population included 60 randomly selected adult Americans from across the US, their input combined in real-time using AI algorithms.

So, how do Americans feel now as compared to a year ago?  That was the first question posed to the the Swarm AI system.  As you can see in the replay below, researchers found that Americans feel somewhat less safe today than they did at the beginning of the year:

“Safety” is a broad term.  When thinking domestically, it comprises both personal safety and also job security. The swarm, however, did not reveal much concern about these issues. In fact, the swarm indicated that concerns about being a victim of crime and job security haven’t changed very much in the past 12 months, which suggests that Americans remain confident in the booming economy and lowering crime rates.

Although the swarm’s concerns about crime did not change, the swarm did recognize an increasing threat of domestic terrorism.  Almost certainly driven by events in Las Vegas, New York, and elsewhere, the swarm reflected worries about acts of terrorism and the potential threat to their everyday safety.

Similarly, the swarm revealed that what Americans see overseas is cause for increasing concern. The swarm was in strong agreement that Americans’ worries about “threats from other countries” have increased over the past year.

America has long been the dominant and respected leader in international relations, considered a strong force that effectively protects its citizens and allies from foreign threats. But, given the strong perception that our international standing has “declined a lot” over the past year, the Americans who made up this swarm revealed that citizens have reason to feel more worried about threats from other countries.

Normally citizens look to their leaders to manage such issues and 2017 was not unusual. Among six major issues that influenced American lives in 2017, including two strongly positive economic indicators, the Trump Presidency was cited as having the greatest impact on perceptions of well-being.

In a year full of significant stories and events, the swarm was notably decisive in tapping the presidency as the largest influence over perceptions of decreased well-being.  The President’s first year in office has been an aggressive and ambitious one, as his reach extended from the climate to domestic governance, sports, Hollywood, and international relations.  But, despite the highs in the stock market and lows in unemployment, the swarm indicates that Americans nevertheless feel less secure today than they did a year ago. The swarm also revealed that those concerns were unrelated to job security and domestic crime, but concurrent with diminished perception of America abroad and increasingly strained relations with foreign governments, including Russia and North Korea.

Unanimous will be fielding swarms throughout 2018 to track the sentiment of the American public and to identify the trends and behaviors that are shaping our future.  If you would like to stay informed of our research, sign up below.

Want to learn more about our Swarm AI technology? Check out our TED talk below…