At an event in Washington, partisanship took a back seat as elected officials, religious leaders, parents and artists called for reining in artificial intelligence. Senator Bernie Sanders and Stephen K. Bannon on Tuesday denounced the billionaires who run the country’s largest tech companies and urged Americans to demand tighter restrictions on artificial intelligence before its capabilities exceed human control.

The unusual public appearances by the country’s elder democratic socialist and a leading architect of the MAGA movement, at a conference in Washington, underscored the deep and rising anxiety over the potential destructive power of artificial intelligence. As calls to regulate the technology have grown louder, transcending political allegiances, there is little consensus from Congress or the White House about what a national policy would look like.

“When you are racing towards a cliff,” Mr. Sanders said, “you hit the brakes.” The conference, hosted by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, drew several hundred people. A slogan embroidered on hats being handed out to attendees captured the sentiment: “Keep the future human.”

Seven in 10 Americans said they are afraid A.I. will weaken human bonds, according to a poll released this week by Elon University. A separate poll from The New York Times found that 61 percent of voters oppose the construction of data centers. On Monday, President Trump dismissed calls for safety guardrails on A.I., calling fears of the technology as a “hoax.”