The researchers pointed to the growing anxiety of Russians around AI

The share of Russians who are afraid of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks has increased to 27% by the end of 2025, compared to 15% a year earlier. Such data on February 17 follows from the annual monitoring of fears regarding scientific achievements conducted by the Nauka TV channel, which was reviewed by Izvestia.

AI has been ranked first among the most disturbing areas of scientific progress for the third year in a row. At the same time, the gap with other categories has increased significantly in 2025. The increase was 12 percentage points over the year and was the most noticeable change in the response structure.

It clarifies that this category includes statements about the risks of "too fast" and uncontrolled development of AI and neural networks, "human enslavement by robots," the creation of autonomous neural networks and supercomputers, the replacement of jobs with artificial intelligence and robotics. Such answers were given by 27% of the study participants.

Military developments and weapons of mass destruction are in second place (4%). At the same time, until 2023, it was military technologies and new types of weapons that consistently occupied the first place among "scientific fears" with a peak in 2022 (19%).

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1% of respondents have concerns about developments in biology and virology, the emergence of new diseases, and "deadly bacteria and viruses" (2% a year earlier). It is noted that after the surge in 2020-2022, this topic began to worry less Russians.

A small number of Russians are concerned about genetic engineering, DNA interference, cloning, fundamental physical experiments (the hadron Collider) and threats from outer space (unidentified asteroid, viruses from outer space). According to the analysis, each category scored up to 1% of the responses.

As in the previous year, almost half of the respondents (49%) said that no scientific discoveries cause them anxiety. This indicator, according to scientists, remains stable.

The study was conducted by the Institute of Modern Media (MOMRI - Modern Media Research Institute) together with the Nauka TV channel. The survey was conducted using the CAWI method (online survey) among 1.6 thousand Russian residents aged 18 and older.

What events in the field of AI took place during the week

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned about the risks of AI development during the results of the year on December 19, 2025. He stressed that there is currently a danger that children, teenagers, schoolchildren and students will stop thinking independently and looking for solutions. According to the head of state, this is a difficult task that will be complicated by the organization of the educational process in all institutions.

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