Summary

A Pew Research Center survey across 37 countries finds that people more often expect artificial intelligence to reduce jobs than create them. Concern is particularly widespread in several wealthier countries and among young adults in some nations, including India.

A Pew Research Center survey finds that people in 34 of 37 countries surveyed are more likely to expect artificial intelligence to cause job losses than create jobs over the next 20 years. The study surveyed 42,151 people across 36 countries between Feb. 8 and May 13, 2026, and used two additional surveys of U.S. adults for the report.

The surveys were designed to represent the adult population in each country. They measure public expectations and attitudes toward AI rather than employment outcomes.

Contents

A global expectation of job loss

The strongest concern appears in countries with higher gross domestic product per capita. Around seven-in-ten adults or more in Australia, South Korea and the United States say AI will result in job losses over the next 20 years.

The U.S. is the only country in the study where Pew asked the same question previously. The share of Americans expecting AI to cause job losses has increased by 7 percentage points in two years.

Views are less settled in many other countries. At least about one-fifth of adults in numerous nations are unsure how AI will affect jobs, with uncertainty reaching around four-in-ten or more in some middle-income countries. People with less awareness of AI are generally more likely to be unsure, while in around half of the countries surveyed, those who have heard or read a lot about AI are more likely to expect job losses.

Concern varies by country and age

Young adults are often especially concerned about the employment effects of AI. In countries including Canada, France, Singapore and Sweden, as well as India, Indonesia and Malaysia, adults ages 18 to 34 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to expect AI-related job losses. Older adults in some countries are instead more likely to say they are unsure how AI will affect employment.

In the United States, concern has risen most sharply among adults ages 18 to 34. The share of young Americans who say they are more concerned than excited about AI increased from 40% in 2024 to 55% in 2026. They are now about as likely as adults ages 50 and older to describe themselves as primarily concerned.

Gender and socioeconomic differences also appear in the results. In 11 mostly high-income countries, women are more likely than men to expect AI to lead to fewer jobs; the difference in France is 10 percentage points. In many middle-income countries, people with higher household incomes and more education are more likely to hold this view, partly because people with lower incomes and less education are more likely to be unsure.

AI, inequality and public sentiment

Job concerns are accompanied by concern about economic inequality. Across the countries surveyed, people are more likely to say AI will widen the gap between rich and poor than narrow it. In South Korea, Australia, the United States, Greece and Canada, around four-in-ten adults or more say AI will increase inequality.

Few people expect AI to reduce inequality: in no country does more than one-in-four adults hold that view, and in 29 countries the share is in the single digits.

Public feelings about AI are mixed. Across the 37 countries, a median of 37% say they are more concerned than excited about increased AI use in daily life, while a median of 41% are equally concerned and excited. Israel is the only country in which more people are primarily excited than primarily concerned.

The findings show that expectations about AI's economic effects are already shaped by age, national income and awareness of the technology. They also indicate that public concern is not uniform: South Korea, for example, has some of the highest expectations of job loss and rising inequality, yet 61% of South Koreans say they are equally concerned and excited about AI and 21% are primarily excited.

Sources