> level of anti-AI sentiment out there in the world.
I'd caution about projecting Western Ai attitudes onto the rest of the world. Some countries are very excited and optimistic about the future it brings, cultures and circumstances give rise to differences in opinions.
One of many results showing a similar pattern, largely bifurcated along "the west" vs "the rest", or "modern economies" vs "third world" ("common terms" used even though I'm not a fan of them)
https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/publi...
Even in the western world most anti-ai sentiment ends on social media.
People are anti-ai cuz it's easy. They say something, repost or like something, and they're anti-ai. Then they turnaround and use AI in their email or calendar or to make funny pics or whatever. They watch AI generated content and engage with it.
Anti-AI is pretty NIMBY. People want AI, they just don't want AI data centers in their area or to give up their use/privilege.
> Even in the western world most anti-ai sentiment ends on social media
No. There's a lot of local regulations being enacted to prevent datacenter builds.
While I agree that it goes beyond social media, I don't believe your statement is evidence to such. I would call that more the manifestation of anti-Ai sentiment wherever they pick it up.
I suspect it's popular because it has been a long long time since The People felt like government had been responsive, so they are doubling down, ad nausium