70% of Britons worry AI will harm jobs; 1 in 5 fear unrest

A nationwide survey by King’s College London’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Policy Institute found high levels of public concern about AI and its effects on the UK economy.

Seventy percent of respondents said they worried about AI’s economic impact. Sixty percent said AI would eliminate more jobs than it creates. Half of those polled said AI’s effect on the economy would be worse than a typical recession. Forty-eight percent said they would rather avoid AI and 41% said they were afraid of it. Only 24% viewed AI as positive for humanity, while 39% disagreed.

The survey showed differences by gender and age. Women were more likely than men to view AI negatively, with 44% of women disagreeing that AI is positive for humanity compared with 18% who agreed. University students were more optimistic than the wider public: 47% of students said AI is positive for the UK and 43% said it is positive for humanity, compared with 28% and 24% of the general public respectively.

Workers and employers reported high concern about job losses. Seven-in-ten workers and 64% of employers said they worry about job losses tied to AI. A majority of the public, 57%, said they expect widespread unemployment. Nearly six-in-ten respondents agreed with a prediction that AI could eliminate up to half of entry-level white-collar roles within five years.

Respondents expressed little confidence in current education and training: about one-in-five said the education system is preparing young people for an economy shaped by AI. Two-thirds of those polled supported close regulation of AI companies even if regulation slowed development. More than half backed government-guaranteed retraining for workers displaced by AI and a tax on companies that replace staff with AI to fund retraining.

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, warned, “The public, workers, young people, and university students are watching the rapid development of AI with more fear than excitement, with real concern for what it will do to jobs, particularly at entry levels, and, therefore, the prospects for our young people and the economy in general.” Dr. Bouke Klein Teeselink, a lecturer in philosophy, politics and economics at King’s College London, noted, “With the right training, policies, and institutional support, there is a clear path forward to a more hopeful future, with rising productivity, broader opportunity, higher incomes, and faster scientific progress.”

The report documents a contrast between public concern and optimism expressed in parts of the tech sector, and records public backing for regulation, retraining programs, and fiscal measures aimed at offsetting job displacement risks.