Quick summary: New research from King’s College London reveals that 70% of UK workers are deeply anxious about the economic impact of artificial intelligence on employment, with a majority fearing it will eliminate more jobs than it creates. This widespread unease is particularly focused on the contraction of entry level roles for young people, sparking public concerns of severe economic recessions and potential civil unrest. The findings signal an urgent demand for proactive public policy and educational reform, with strong societal support for government guaranteed retraining and strict corporate regulation to safeguard worker well being and ensure equitable economic benefits.
7 in 10 UK workers are worried about artificial intelligence’s economic impact on employment, and 6 in 10 believe it will eliminate more jobs than it creates, according to new research from King’s College London.
The study, from The King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Policy Institute, reveals deep anxiety focused particularly on entry-level positions and young people. Half the public think AI’s impact could prove worse than a normal recession, and 1 in 5 fear it could spark civil unrest.
The findings launch at the King’s AI Summit: Workforce Futures on 19th–20th May, where speakers include Baroness Martha Lane-Fox and Dame Chi Onwurah MP alongside industry, academic, policy, and media leaders. The first wave of a major new tracker surveyed 4 groups: a representative sample of 2,000 members of the general public, 1,000 young people aged 16–29, 1,000 university students, and 500 employers.
General attitudes toward AI
Despite widespread unease, the public’s relationship with AI is complicated. Nearly half (48%) would rather avoid it, and 41% say they are afraid of it. Only 24% think it is positive for humanity, compared with 39% who disagree. Even so, more people say they will use AI in future (43%) than say they will not (26%).
Men (30%), university students (43%), and particularly male university students (52%) are more likely to view AI as positive for humanity. The majority of parents of 11–29-year-olds have not discussed AI with their children, though around 3 in 10 have talked about career implications and encouraged use of AI tools.
AI and the future of work
Most of the public (57%) expect widespread unemployment, while only 17% believe AI will create as many or more jobs. Employers are more optimistic, with nearly half (48%) holding that view. Nearly 6 in 10 members of the public (56%) and employers (59%) agree with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s 2025 prediction that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within 5 years.
1 in 5 members of the public (22%) believe AI will eliminate jobs fast enough to cause civil unrest, rising to a third among university students (34%). Only 25% of the public agree with the World Economic Forum’s forecast that AI will create twice as many jobs as it displaces by 2030, compared to 47% of employers.
Majorities across all groups predict AI’s economic benefits will flow mainly to wealthy investors and large companies — 65% of the public and 58% of employers. Optimism does exist in some areas: 69% of employers and 56% of university students are excited about new AI opportunities, though only 35% of workers and 28% of the general public share this enthusiasm. Most workers (55%) are not worried about AI replacing their own job, although 1 in 5 graduate workers (19%) are very worried.
How AI is already affecting society
People are far more likely to believe AI has negatively affected others’ thinking ability (60%) than their own (27%). Male university students are most confident their thinking has improved (41%), while female students are most likely to say it has worsened (46%).
9 in 10 students (89%) who use AI for their studies have encountered problems, mainly
- Factual errors (37%)
- Made-up sources (31%)
These issues have caused serious or moderate problems for 45% of students.
The public underestimate AI’s reach, guessing that 35% of UK workers are in roles AI could perform or enhance, against the International Monetary Fund’s estimate of 70%. Employers are more likely to see AI as assisting workers (56%) than replacing them (12%), while the public leans the opposite way. Half of workers using AI report no real change in their own performance, but 86% of employers report productivity gains. A fifth of employers (22%) have already made roles redundant or cut hiring due to AI, rising to 29% in large organisations.
Preparedness and policy
People identify schools (35%), government (34%), and universities or colleges (26%) as most responsible for preparing young people for an AI-shaped world. 6 in 10 university students (60%) believe universities can prepare them, but only 36% say they are actually being prepared. Overall, only 1 in 5 (20%) agree the education system is readying young people adequately.
Strong majorities support
- Government-guaranteed retraining (53%)
- An AI retraining tax on companies (53%)
- Close regulation of AI firms, even if it slows innovation (66%)
If productivity gains materialise, more people favour higher pay over shorter working hours, a view strongest among employers (62%) and students (53%).
What the experts say
Professor Elena Simperl, Director of The King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence, said: “These findings tell us something important: the British public isn’t asking us to slow down on AI, they’re asking us to do it better. People want these tools, they want more of them, and they’ve used them enough to know where they fall short. Employers see creative thinking as the top benefit AI can offer, ahead of productivity, but the public and the experts both doubt that today’s tools deliver this. That puts a real onus on those of us building and deploying AI to make systems that genuinely support learning, creativity, and critical thinking, and honestly, too few people in the sector are working seriously on this. Moreover, women seem to be more cautious about AI than men. That should make us ask who we are designing for, and who is being left out of the conversation.”
Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of The Policy Institute at King’s College London, said: “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, Lecturer in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at King’s College London, said: “This survey gives a really interesting window into how British students, workers, and employers feel about AI. Some of the main concerns held by the public, such as fewer job openings, a contraction in entry-level roles, and increased pressure on white-collar work, echo what I find in my own research on AI and the UK labour market. But none of these effects is fixed. 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.”