Global Survey Finds Majority Fear AI Will Destroy Jobs

Artificial intelligence is moving rapidly into workplaces, automating tasks ranging from customer service and content production to data analysis. That shift has made the technology’s impact on employment a central policy concern. A Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 countries shows that many people believe displacement could outpace job creation, underscoring a widening gap between optimism about technological progress and anxiety over economic security.

The latest poll asked respondents how AI would affect employment over the next 20 years. Majorities across the surveyed countries expected the technology to reduce the number of available jobs rather than create more opportunities. Concern was particularly pronounced in high-income economies: more than 70% of respondents in Australia, South Korea and the United States expressed fears about AI’s labor-market impact, adding pressure on governments and employers to expand worker protections and retraining programs.