Source: Poverty Solutions
Blurry reflection shadow silhouette in a puddle of children walking on a wet city street. iStock.
Blurry reflection shadow silhouette in a puddle of children walking on a wet city street. iStock.
Many Detroiters are still making up their minds about potential government use of artificial intelligence, with 41% of city residents reporting neutral views or uncertainty on whether AI’s benefits to society outweigh its risks.
A new issue brief outlines findings from a representative survey of Detroiters fielded by the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study at the University of Michigan. More than 2,100 people responded to the survey between Aug. 6 and Oct. 1, 2025, and survey results are weighted to represent the demographics of the city’s population as a whole.
The survey asked Detroiters about their general perceptions of AI as well as their support for specific municipal AI applications, including managing water and wastewater systems, assisting residents in finding government resources, monitoring neighborhood upkeep, identifying crime suspects and identifying missing children.
“We wanted to know whether residents think AI can improve efficiency, transparency and accountability in government services as well as whether the technology might increase harm, bias or unfairness in service delivery. We hope city officials will take Detroiters’ views on AI into account as they explore applications of AI in government services,” said Heonuk Ha, U-M postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Social Research and an AI fellow at the Institute for Data and AI in Society.
Ha co-authored the issue brief with Yucheng Fan, data manager at DMACS, and Mara Cecilia Ostfeld, a faculty co-lead at DMACS.
The survey found Detroiters’ support for AI depends on the purpose for which the technology is being used. Support for AI was strongest for identifying missing children, where a majority of residents (57%) expressed approval. Support for AI is much lower for service-oriented applications such as monitoring neighborhood upkeep (38%), helping residents navigate government resources (34%) and managing water systems (30%).
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