Benevolent force for good or existential threat to humanity? New research measuring consumer attitudes around artificial intelligence (AI) reveals how people feel about the growing pervasiveness of AI in society and their comfort level with rapid advances in the technology’s use.

Conducted by Minneapolis based tech consulting firm Elicit, the report finds consumers conflicted as they weigh the benefits and risks of AI in the wake of exciting innovations in self-driving cars and robotics alongside recent news stories about intelligent personal assistants gone rogue and companies’ reported misuse of personal data and predictive technologies.

Nearly three-quarters of the 697 consumers polled think companies will go too far with artificial intelligence. Consumers understand and appreciate the ways AI improves their lives – to a point. Elicit’s 14-page report provides insights for organizations developing AI applications as consumers expand on how they feel companies are employing the technology today and whether they might go “too far” in the future, their privacy concerns and their rising apprehension when AI acts too independently of human input.

Elicit helps clients transform the way they use customer and employee insight in service of improving the customer experience. Fortune 500 clients include Southwest Airlines, Intel, Nestle Skin Health, HomeAway, Fossil, GameStop, Hospital Corporation of America, Sephora, and Pier 1 Imports.