- 71% of US citizens believe AI could cause permanent job loss
- Only one in three think AI is helpful in education
- Unemployment rates are broadly unchanged
A new Reuters/Ipsos study has found nearly half (47%) of Americans believe AI is bad for humanity, and in terms of more than just jobs.
The study added how almost three in four (71%) Americans are concerned AI will cause permanent job loss, with many divided about AI’s role in education (only 36% think it will help).
Besides jobs, US citizens are worried about AI’s broader implications within the society, including political chaos, military uses and even a risk to humanity.
American citizens aren’t so sure about the future of AI
Even more citizens are worried about AI disrupting political systems (77%) via deepfakes and other misinformation campaigns, with around half (48%) opposing to military use of AI to decide strike targets.
Although workers and consumers broadly acknowledge AI’s productivity benefits, they’re mostly concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence, with harmful applications like fake medical information, racist content and AI bots all cited in the study.
Users are also becoming increasingly conscious of AI’s sustainability impacts, with three in five (61%) worried about high electricity demand from AI data centers.
Despite noting a 12% decrease in data center emissions in its latest Sustainability Report, Google warned of a 27% surge in energy demand as a result of intensive compute demands – and other companies in this space are all facing similar challenges.
Concerns span all areas of AI, but with workers still sharing early concerns that AI could replace jobs, industries are yet to prove this theory.
Tech sector layoffs have cost hundreds of thousands of jobs since the launch of ChatGPT and subsequent AI tools, however with US unemployment rates remaining fairly steady (4.2% in July 2025), what we’re seeing more than widespread job losses is a shift in jobs – as some become redundant, new roles open up.
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