CivicScience continually tracks current and anticipated consumer trends. Here are three key insights marketers should know this week. All insights are derived from the CivicScience Social | Political | Economic | Cultural (SPEC) Report, a weekly report available to clients covering the latest news and insights. Get in touch to learn more.

1. Americans are more likely to believe AI should not be trained with copyrighted materials – and that AI-generated material should not be copyrighted.

The boom and proliferation of generative AI across a variety of industries has not come without skepticism among Americans and ambiguity when it comes to the law. The courts, at least in one aspect, have begun to weigh in. Last month, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled AI-generated art isn’t eligible for copyright protection due to the lack of human involvement. Meanwhile, the U.S. Copyright Office is now seeking public input on copyrights in regards to AI content, AI models using online copyrighted material, and related issues.

The latest CivicScience data show as many as one-third of U.S. adults don’t really know how they feel about artificial intelligence and copyright laws yet. For those who have made up their minds, the majority disagree that AI models should be able to be trained using copyrighted materials found online. Gen Z adults are somewhat more open to the concept than their older counterparts, though a plurality lean toward opposition.

Many Americans are also unsure if AI-generated materials should be able to be copyrighted if no humans were directly involved in the materials’ creation. They are more likely to disagree than agree with the idea, however.

2.  Severe concern about the state of public education is on the rise, Democrats show the largest jump.

As a new school year begins, concern about the state of public education in the U.S. has trended slowly upwards over the past two years. Ongoing CivicScience tracking reveals those ‘very concerned’ by the state of public education have risen six percentage points to 61% since August 2021. 

This increase in concern over the last two years occurred among all political affiliations. Compared with August 2021, severe concern for the public education system has increased by 10 percentage points among Republicans, 13 points among Independents and 16 points among Democrats.

3. Gen Z and Baby Boomers hold dramatically different priorities for the upcoming holiday season.

Americans of different ages have different priorities when it comes to the holidays this year. According to ongoing CivicScience holiday tracking data, Americans 55 and older are 21 points more likely than Gen Z adults to say that staying safe and healthy is one of their top priorities this holiday season. A recent surge of COVID-19 and waning immunity to the virus could certainly be on the mind as they look to receive another booster dose. 

Gen Z adults, on the other hand, are 14 percentage points more likely than Baby Boomers to say that one of their top priorities is making the holidays feel extra special this year.

Interested in an in-depth look at the data featured on these topics, along with additional consumer insights from this report? Schedule a meeting to see how you can gain access to the full SPEC Report sent to clients every week.