Zoe Padgett, who runs public opinion research on SurveyMonkey's survey science team, joins Farrah to walk through three years of tracking data on how Americans actually feel about AI — not the LinkedIn-hype version. They dig into an unusual generational "crisscross" (Gen Z's trust in AI dropped from 2023 to 2026 while every older generation's rose), why brands selling AI tools are still just selling the category itself rather than differentiating, and what happens to the research pipeline when AI quietly absorbs the tasks junior researchers used to cut their teeth on. The conversation ends on data centers — the physical, local, increasingly contentious infrastructure behind all of it — and the way it is scrambling normal demographic and political coalitions.
Guest
Zoe Padgett is a public opinion researcher on SurveyMonkey's survey science team. She previously worked on federal survey design and analysis at the American Institutes for Research, ICF, and the Department of Education and holds a Master's in Survey Methodology from the University of Maryland.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Farrah Bostic. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Farrah Bostic och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
