Are We Doomsday Yet?
Tracking the mood of AI discourse since 2021
We analyzed over 80,000 articles published about artificial intelligence between January 2021 and December 2025, scoring each for positive, negative, and neutral sentiment. The result is a five-year timeline of how the world feels about AI — from the quiet optimism of 2021 through the panic of early 2023 to the cautious optimism of late 2025.
Last updated Feb 15, 2026
AI sentiment turned net-positive in Q3 2025 for the first time since the ChatGPT launch
Methodology
Sentiment scores are computed using a fine-tuned classifier on a curated dataset of AI-related articles from 120+ publications. Each article receives a positive, negative, and neutral score (summing to 100). Monthly aggregates are weighted by publication reach. Events are editorially selected based on coverage volume and sentiment shift magnitude.
Data Sources
- Afterprise Content Pipeline