To explore workers’ views of AI use in the workplace, we asked about their broad attitudes on how AI may be used in the future and how it will affect their job opportunities in the long run.
How workers feel about AI use in the workplace
About half of workers (52%) say they feel worried about how AI may be used in the workplace in the future.
Just over a third (36%) say they feel hopeful about this, 33% feel overwhelmed and 29% feel excited.
Workers’ views vary by age, education and income levels. Even so, feelings of worry tend to cut across these groups.
Differences by age
Workers ages 18 to 49 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to say they feel excited about future AI use (32% vs. 24%).
About half of workers or more across age groups say they feel worried about the use of AI in the workplace, but the youngest workers are most likely to say they feel overwhelmed: 40% of workers ages 18 to 29 say this, compared with about three-in-ten among older age groups.
Differences by education
Workers with at least a bachelor’s degree are more likely than those with less education to say they’ve heard of workplace AI use (91% vs. 76%). They are also more likely to say they feel each of the following about its future use:
- Worried (57% vs. 48%)
- Hopeful (44% vs. 30%)
- Overwhelmed (36% vs. 30%)
- Excited (38% vs. 23%)
Differences by income
Across income levels, workers in the upper income tier are the most likely to say they feel:
- Hopeful (45% vs. 35% among middle-income workers and 30% among lower-income workers)
- Excited (39% vs. 28% and 24%)
Differences across income groups on feelings of worry and overwhelm are either small or not statistically significant.
Workers’ views on how AI will affect their job opportunities
Relatively few workers think that workplace AI use will improve their job prospects in the future – only 6% say it will lead to more opportunities for them in the long run.
About a third (32%) say it will lead to fewer opportunities for them, and a similar share (31%) say it will not make much difference. Some 13% say they are not sure, and 17% have not heard of workplace AI use.
A couple of key demographic groups stand out as being less concerned about the impact AI will have on their future job prospects.
- Workers with a postgraduate degree: 24% say AI use will lead to fewer job opportunities for them in the future. This compares with 35% of workers who have a bachelor’s degree and 33% of those with some college or less education. About half of workers with a postgraduate degree (48%) say this won’t make much difference for them.
- Upper-income workers: 26% say AI use will lead to fewer job opportunities for them in the future. Larger shares of middle-income (33%) and lower-income (37%) workers say the same. A substantial share of upper-income workers (44%) say this won’t make much of a difference for them.
Differences by AI use
AI users are more likely than non-AI users to say workplace AI use will impact their job prospects – leading to either fewer (42% vs. 30%) or more (15% vs. 5%) job opportunities for them in the long run.
In turn, non-AI users are more likely than AI users to say AI will not make much difference in their job opportunities (33% vs. 28%). Among non-AI users, 21% have not heard about AI use in the workplace.
Differences by industry
Not surprisingly, workers’ views on how AI will affect their own job opportunities in the long run differ across industries. Workers in the following industries are among the most likely to say AI use will lead to more job opportunities for them:
- Information and technology (16% say this)
- Banking, finance, accounting, real estate or insurance (11%)
