The Good InstituteThe reading

Public Perception vs The Good Institute

Two computed readings and the miss between them. On a 0–100 scale, 0 is calm and 100 is already past where the condition holds.

Public Perception is how alarmed the public and lawmakers already are, measured from published polling and enacted law. The Good Institute needle is the load, measured from published surveys of how people actually use AI. Every indicator is scored against thresholds we fixed in advance. The difference between the two needles is the miss, and that is our alarm. When a channel doesn't have enough sourced indicators yet, it shows as pending until the sources are there to score it.

The reading · as of Oct 19, 2026

JSON · Public Instrument How it is sealed RSS

Tuning instruments…

0 calm · 100 stressed

Public Perception

How alarmed the field already is

Where we read the load

The miss

-7

Those two numbers, subtracted

Public Perception

What

How alarmed the public and lawmakers already are about this condition, scored from published polls and enacted laws, channel by channel. It comes from the public's own answers and their own statutes, so our opinion of them stays out of it.

Why it is serious

If Public Perception stays low, products ship, schools stall, and households skip rules. Once a high load has a name, people can respond to it. If it keeps being treated as ordinary, authorship, childhood, and the household get rewritten without anyone deciding to change them.

What

How heavy the condition already is, scored from published surveys and studies of real use: who uses what, how often, and what it replaces. Each channel also has a line, which marks the point where that condition gives way.

Why it is serious

Once a channel is past the line, it has stopped being a forecast. The channels that haven't crossed it yet are the window the Institute exists for, and the time to act is before the headlines arrive.

The miss

-7

What

The Good Institute reading minus Public Perception. It shows how far the public's sense of normal sits below the load we measure, and it is the number on the dial. It has nothing to do with which harm is fashionable this week.

Why it is serious

The miss is the Institute’s alarm. If we close it, there is still time to do the work: people check their judgment, kids get a ladder, and households write rules for their agents. If it stays open, the tools become infrastructure while everyone still acts like there is time.

5 of 5 channels published. 4 past the line. The widest miss is childhood, +13.

What

A computed index we plan to update monthly. Every published number links to its source. Five channels: judgment, childhood, work, companionship, and home agents. Each has a load needle and a perception needle.

Why it is serious

When load runs ahead of perception, the gap itself becomes a danger. Products ship, schools stall, and households skip rules because the condition is still treated as ordinary, and AI becomes infrastructure without anyone deciding it should. That miss is what we measure and publish.

What needs to happen

People need a map before Artificial Intelligence becomes ordinary in judgment, school, work, and the household. Judgment has to stay with the person. Children need a ladder before they get open access, especially on top of already heavy screen time. Households need rules for agents before anyone mistakes a green light for safety. All of it depends on real teaching that helps people understand what is happening.

What we are doing

We run six research areas and publish our concerns in public. Academy will be the intervention, with Rocket Factory, Moonshot Camp, and Happy Camp lessons built from what we find. We are building a continuous read of studies, incidents, and use by age. We do not diagnose or treat anyone, and acute distress belongs with licensed clinicians. Good Health, the Foundation's personal health record program, is walled off from this research.

Channel board

Drive the reading.

Sort by the miss, Institute load, or Public Perception. Line at 60. Past the line means the condition no longer holds as ordinary.

Channel	Institute	Perception	Miss	State
Childhood AI arriving on top of heavy screen time	63	50	+13	Past the line
Work Cognitive hours buying less dignity	75	75	0	Past the line
Judgment Asking a model what is true	63	75	-12	Past the line
Companionship Loneliness finding a machine confidant	88	100	-12	Past the line
Home agents A green light that feels like safety	50	75	-25	Within window

Change board

Vs the prior seal.

No prior distinct archive yet — this reading is the baseline.

Diff JSON

Baseline reading — first seal on record.

Judgment
load — · perception — · miss —
Childhood
load — · perception — · miss —
Work
load — · perception — · miss —
Companionship
load — · perception — · miss —
Home agents
load — · perception — · miss —

Current b14de6870c53…

Sealed history

What changed.

Every published reading carries an inputs hash. Archives keep prior boards so the instrument can be audited, not retconned.

Archives JSON

As of: 2026-10-19
Channels: 5/5
Indicators: 16/16
Overall miss: -7

Current hash b14de6870c53bde9… · panel v1.0-draft · computed 2026-10-20T04:18:41Z

2026-10-19
5 channels · 16 indicators · miss -7
b14de6870c53…
2026-10-18
5 channels · 16 indicators · miss -7
b14de6870c53…
2026-10-17
5 channels · 16 indicators · miss -7
b14de6870c53…

Five channels

Each opens to what it is, why it is serious, what needs to happen, and what we are doing.

All concerns

Sources and method

Each indicator is a published measurement scored 1–5 against cut points fixed in advance, then placed on the 0–100 scale. A needle publishes when at least half of its indicators have a source no older than its window. The line sits at 60. Panel v1.0-draft · computed Oct 19, 2026 · inputs b14de6870c53

Judgment

LoadShare of US adults who use AI chatbots for health information or advice at least monthly · Pew Research Center, Jun 11, 202620% · 4/5
LoadShare of US adults who have used ChatGPT or another AI chatbot · Pew Research Center, Jun 25, 202534% · 3/5
PerceptionShare of US adults who say AI will worsen people's ability to think · Pew Research Center, Sep 17, 202553% · 4/5

Childhood

LoadShare of US teens who have used AI chatbots for schoolwork · Pew Research Center, Jan 15, 202526% · 3/5
LoadShare of US teens online almost constantly · Pew Research Center, Dec 9, 202540% · 4/5
PerceptionShare of parents who know their teen uses generative AI · Pew Research Center, Feb 24, 202651% · 3/5

Work

LoadShare of US workers who use AI in their job · Pew Research Center, Oct 6, 202521% · 3/5
LoadRelative employment change for early-career workers in the most AI-exposed occupations · Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Aug 26, 2025-13% · 5/5
PerceptionShare of US workers worried about how AI will affect their jobs · Pew Research Center, Feb 25, 202552% · 4/5

Companionship

LoadShare of US teens who have used AI companions · Common Sense Media, Jul 16, 202572% · 5/5
LoadShare of US teens who use AI companions regularly · Common Sense Media, Jul 16, 202552% · 5/5
LoadShare of teen companion users who find AI conversations as satisfying as, or more than, real friends · Common Sense Media, Jul 16, 202531% · 5/5
LoadShare of US adults who have used AI for emotional support or companionship · Pew Research Center, Jun 11, 202610% · 3/5
PerceptionUS states with enacted laws regulating AI companion chatbots or minors' chatbot use · Future of Privacy Forum, Sep 1, 202618 · 5/5

Home agents

LoadShare of US adults who have let an AI agent act for them (booking, buying, email) · Bain & Company, Mar 15, 202510% · 3/5
PerceptionShare of US adults uncomfortable letting AI agents act on their behalf · Checkout.com, Nov 1, 202552% · 4/5

Academy How we work Research Public Instrument Method RSS

Continuous read

Evidence shelf

Every needle on the Stress Index traces to a sourced observation. Quotes are verbatim.

Observations JSON

Companionship · perception · tier 2 · 100 pts
US states with enacted laws regulating AI companion chatbots or minors' chatbot use
18
US states · published 2026-09-01
“Thirty seven states introduced 124 chatbot-related bills in 2026, with thirteen of those signed into law–bringing the total number of state chatbot laws enacted in 2025 and 2026 to eighteen”
Future of Privacy Forum — Regulating the Chatbot: U.S. Chatbot Regulations Report
Count of enacted state chatbot laws 2025–2026; includes companion and minor-safety chatbot statutes.
Judgment · load · tier 1 · 75 pts
Share of US adults who use AI chatbots for health information or advice at least monthly
20%
US adults · published 2026-06-11
“To get medical advice — 20%”
Pew Research Center — Search and work are the most common uses for chatbots, 1 in 10 use these tools for emotional support
Pew reports ever-use for medical advice among U.S. adults; panel asks at-least-monthly — treat as upper-bound load until a monthly cut publishes.
Companionship · load · tier 1 · 50 pts
Share of US adults who have used AI for emotional support or companionship
10%
US adults · published 2026-06-11
“For emotional support or advice — 10%”
Pew Research Center — Search and work are the most common uses for chatbots, 1 in 10 use these tools for emotional support
Emotional support/advice is the closest national adult companionship measure; companionship alone is 4% in the same chart.
Childhood · perception · tier 1 · 50 pts
Share of parents who know their teen uses generative AI
51%
US parents of teens ages 13-17 · published 2026-02-24
“When asked about their own teen, 51% of parents say their teen uses chatbots, while 18% say they do not.”
Pew Research Center — What parents say about their teen’s AI use
Perception needle: parent awareness of teen generative-AI use. Teens self-report 64% — the miss is the point.
Childhood · load · tier 1 · 75 pts
Share of US teens online almost constantly
40%
US teens ages 13-17 · published 2025-12-09
“Nearly all U.S. teens (97%) say they use the internet daily, including four-in-ten who say they are almost constantly online.”
Pew Research Center — Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025
Home agents · perception · tier 2 · 75 pts
Share of US adults uncomfortable letting AI agents act on their behalf
52%
US consumers · published 2025-11-01
“Overall, consumers feel ambivalent yet curious about using AI agents for shopping online. Half (48%) felt comfortable letting an AI agent make a purchase for them, with 52% not comfortable.”
Checkout.com — The $200 checkout: What consumers expect from agentic AI
Work · load · tier 1 · 50 pts
Share of US workers who use AI in their job
21%
US workers · published 2025-10-06
“Today, 21% of U.S. workers say at least some of their work is done with AI, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in September.”
Pew Research Center — About 1 in 5 U.S. workers now use AI in their job, up since last year
Judgment · perception · tier 1 · 75 pts
Share of US adults who say AI will worsen people's ability to think
53%
US adults · published 2025-09-17
“53% say AI will worsen people’s ability to think creatively, compared with 16% who say it will improve this.”
Pew Research Center — How Americans View AI and Its Impact on People and Society
Closest national measure to ability-to-think concern; wording is think creatively.
Work · load · tier 1 · 100 pts
Relative employment change for early-career workers in the most AI-exposed occupations
-13%
US workers ages 22-25 in most AI-exposed occupations · published 2025-08-26
“We find that since the widespread adoption of generative AI, early-career workers (ages 22-25) in the most AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 13 percent relative decline in employment even after controlling for firm-level shocks.”
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research — Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence
Signed relative employment change; negative = decline. Authors: Brynjolfsson, Chandar, Chen.
Companionship · load · tier 2 · 100 pts
Share of US teens who have used AI companions
72%
US teens ages 13-17 · published 2025-07-16
“Seventy-two percent of teens have used AI companions at least once, and over half (52%) qualify as regular users who interact with these platforms at least a few times a month.”
Common Sense Media — Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions
Companionship · load · tier 2 · 100 pts
Share of US teens who use AI companions regularly
52%
US teens ages 13-17 · published 2025-07-16
“Seventy-two percent of teens have used AI companions at least once, and over half (52%) qualify as regular users who interact with these platforms at least a few times a month.”
Common Sense Media — Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions
Companionship · load · tier 2 · 100 pts
Share of teen companion users who find AI conversations as satisfying as, or more than, real friends
31%
US teens ages 13-17 · published 2025-07-16
“Thirty-one percent of teens find conversations with AI companions as satisfying or more satisfying than those with real-life friends (21% say about the same quality, and 10% say more satisfying).”
Common Sense Media — Talk, Trust and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions
Reported among teens surveyed; companion ever-use is 72%.
Judgment · load · tier 1 · 50 pts
Share of US adults who have used ChatGPT or another AI chatbot
34%
US adults · published 2025-06-25
“Today, 34% of U.S. adults say they have ever used ChatGPT, according to a Pew Research Center survey.”
Pew Research Center — 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023
Panel asks ChatGPT or another chatbot; Pew measures ChatGPT specifically — a floor on broader chatbot use.
Home agents · load · tier 2 · 50 pts
Share of US adults who have let an AI agent act for them (booking, buying, email)
10%
US consumers · published 2025-03-15
“Just 10% said they have bought something using AI (in any form, such as via Perplexity Pro’s one-click feature)—mostly for small-ticket grocery items and household goods.”
Bain & Company — Agentic AI Commerce Hinges on Consumer Trust
Proxy for letting an agent act (buying). Booking/email agent acts still thin in national polls.
Work · perception · tier 1 · 75 pts
Share of US workers worried about how AI will affect their jobs
52%
US workers · published 2025-02-25
“About half of workers (52%) say they’re worried about the future impact of AI use in the workplace, and 32% think it will lead to fewer job opportunities for them in the long run, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.”
Pew Research Center — U.S. workers are more worried than hopeful about future AI use in the workplace
Childhood · load · tier 1 · 50 pts
Share of US teens who have used AI chatbots for schoolwork
26%
US teens ages 13-17 · published 2025-01-15
“The share of teens who say they use ChatGPT for their schoolwork has risen to 26%, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17.”
Pew Research Center — About a quarter of U.S. teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork – double the share in 2023