People fear AI will cause job loss, not growth, new survey finds

More people around the world expect AI to cause job loss instead of creating jobs in the next 20 years, a study by Pew Research Center found.

In the U.S., 71% of respondents predicted that AI will lead to fewer jobs, an increase of 7% over the past two years. The global average sharing this belief was 46%, with only Australia and South Korea beating the United States, at 76% each.

The study looked at opinions on AI from 50,838 people – 8,687 from the U.S. – in 37 middle- and high-income countries between February and June. Wealthier countries tended to worry more about job loss, though in many countries, uncertainty also dominated responses, despite rising awareness of AI.

"It's not necessarily that they think it will create more jobs typically,” Pew Associate Director of Research Laura Silver said of the uncertain respondents. “It's that higher shares within each country say they don't know how it will impact jobs.”

The year 2025 saw a historically low number of added jobs by employers in the U.S, without much bounce-back this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. May saw some growth, but in July, 23,000 jobs were cut, with AI…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/money/