Half Of Americans Now Afraid They’ll Lose Their Jobs To AI

Half of Americans are now afraid that the ​ongoing artificial intelligence boom could leave them or someone in their household unemployed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll ‌released Wednesday.

The newly released poll shows that 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would replace jobs in their household. The survey also found that 61% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans were worried about losing jobs to AI.

Jennifer ⁠Schalhoub, a 62-year-old freelance writer in Little Ferry, New Jersey, said that she recently lost her employment, which she believes was partly caused by AI, Reuters reported.

“AI is taking over because people care less and less about the quality of the work that gets produced,” Schalhoub said, according to the outlet.

The survey also suggests U.S. college graduates utilize AI tools more, with 50% saying they use it on a regular basis. By comparison, 34% of people without degrees said they use it regularly, while 40% of respondents overall said the same, the poll found.

The poll’s release comes as concerns over AI potentially replacing human jobs have been rising over the years. AI is poised to significantly disrupt the nation’s labor market, analysts previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The U.S. Technology sector announced 38,242 job cuts in May, marking the highest monthly total for the industry since August 2024, a May report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas found. Technology is currently the leading job cutter of 2026 by a notable margin, per the report.

“The labor market is being reshaped by technology in real time,” Challenger said in a statement. “AI is now the leading reason companies give for cutting jobs and the primary industry citing it is Technology. Technology, already the year’s biggest job cutter, saw its steepest cuts since early 2023, even as it remains the sector with the most hiring plans this year.”

Though, proponents of AI have touted how the technology can help drive economic growth across the nation.

Many Americans have been struggling to find new jobs and grappling with slow hiring in recent years.

Total nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on June 5. The total number of long-term unemployed people changed little on a monthly basis in May at 2.0 million, but is up by 524,000 over the year, according to the BLS.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 4,531 U.S. adults nationwide. The poll’s results had a margin of error of 2 percentage points in ‌either direction.