A.I. cybersecurity: Advancing understanding of public opinion to create effective public policy

This paper investigates the development of opinions on artificial intelligence (AI) from the perspective of how we learn about AI and how often we interact with AI technology and media.AI awareness is nearly ubiquitous, far beyond the explanation of AI media presence since 2022 when ChatGPT became available to the public.However, since 2022 distrust in AI technologies has risen sharply in public opinion, spawning the first official AI regulations in the EU and US.These regulations have unintentionally shifted the cybersecurity advantage firmly to the cybercriminal.With each new incarnation of generative AI (GenAI) capability, a corresponding advancement of GenAI cybercrime tools evolves faster than cyberdefender tools.A better understanding of AI opinion development will hopefully lead to regulatory revisions, rebalance cybersecurity outcomes, and increase AI acceptance by the public.