To explore workers' views on AI use in the workplace, we asked about their broad attitudes about how AI will be used in the future, and how it will affect their employment opportunities in the long term.
How workers feel about AI use in the workplace
Approximately half of workers (52%) say they are worried about how AI will be used in the workplace in the future.
Just a third (36%) say they feel hopeful about this, with 33% overwhelmed and 29% feeling excited.
Workers' views vary based on age, education and income level. Still, concern tends to be cut across these groups.
Differences based on age
Workers ages 18 to 49 are more likely to feel more excited about future AI use than workers age 50 or older (32% vs. 24%).
While about half of workers feel worried about AI use in the workplace, the youngest workers are most likely to feel overwhelmed.
Differences due to education
Workers with at least a bachelor's degree are more likely than fewer people who say they have heard of AI use in the workplace (91% vs. 76%). They are also likely to say that they feel each of the following about their future use:
- Worried (57% vs. 48%)
- Full of hope (44% vs. 30%)
- Overwhelmed (36% vs. 30%)
- Excitement (38% vs. 23%)
Differences based on income
Beyond income levels, workers in the upper income class are most likely to say they feel.
- Full of hope (45% vs 35% of middle-income workers, 30% of low-income workers)
- Excitement (39% vs. 28% and 24%)
Differences between income groups regarding concern and overwhelmed feelings are either not statistically significant.
Workers' views on how AI affects employment opportunities
Relatively few workers believe that AI use in the workplace will improve future job outlook – only 6% say it will lead to more opportunities in the long run.
About a third (32%) said it would lead to reduced opportunities for them, while a similar share (31%) said it would not make a big difference. Approximately 13% say they don't know, while 17% don't hear about AI use in the workplace.
Several major demographic groups stand out because they are less concerned about the impact AI will have on future job prospects.
- Workers with graduate degrees: 24% say that AI use will reduce future employment opportunities. This compares with 35% of workers with a bachelor's degree and 33% of workers with education below the university. Approximately half (48%) of workers with graduate degrees said this didn't make a big difference for them.
- High-income workers: 26% say that AI use will reduce future employment opportunities. The larger shares of middle-income (33%) and low-income (37%) workers say the same thing. A significant share of high-income workers (44%) said this doesn't make a big difference for them.
Differences due to AI use
AI users are more likely to say that workplace use affects employment outlook than non-AI users, leading to less employment opportunities for them (42% vs. 30%) (15%) in the long term.
Second, non-AI users are more likely to say that AI doesn't make a significant difference in employment opportunities (33% vs. 28%). Among non-AI users, 21% do not hear about AI use in the workplace.
Differences by industry
Naturally, workers' views on how AI affects their employment opportunities in the long run differ across industries. Workers in the following industries are saying that AI is used. more Their Employment Opportunities:
- Information and technology (16% say this)
- Banking, Finance, Accounting, Real Estate or Insurance (11%)
