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Just over half of U.S. workers are concerned about the future impact that artificial intelligence will have on the workplace, and almost a third think that it will lead to dwindling job opportunities for humans in the long run, a new survey shows.
The research, conducted by the Pew Research Center, found that while 36% of workers say that they feel hopeful about how AI may be used in the workplace in the coming years, almost the same proportion indicate that they feel “overwhelmed” and 52% say that they feel outright “worried.”
Workers who are lower income tend to be least optimistic about AI and job opportunities, with some 37% predicting the technology will diminish job opportunities, and only 5% expecting it to create more. Among the highest income respondents, those figures were 26% and 8% respectively.
Currently, about 16% of workers identify as AI users, meaning that at least some of their work is done by AI. Those who say that they use it regularly skew younger: 73% are below the age of 50. Pew also found that about half of AI users have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 39% of non-AI users.
A growing body of research has laid bare the extent to which the global labor market is set to be transformed by AI over the coming years. A report from Goldman Sachs in 2023 predicted that shifts in workflows triggered by tech advances including AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs to automation. But labor market experts have also warned that tech literacy is critical to not being left behind.
In a 2024 blog, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that “in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality,” something that she described as “a troubling trend that policymakers must proactively address to prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions.”
“It is crucial for countries to establish comprehensive social safety nets and offer retraining programs for vulnerable workers,” she wrote. “In doing so, we can make the AI transition more inclusive, protecting livelihoods and curbing inequality.”
Pew’s research was based on a survey of 5,273 U.S. adults employed part time or full. The survey was conducted in October 2024.