Most Americans now say they're more concerned than excited about AI, Pew finds
The share of adults under 30 who feel more wary than enthusiastic about AI has grown from 39% to 55% in two years, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
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- 52% of US adults say they are more concerned than excited about AI's growing role in daily life, up from 37% in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 3,488 adults conducted June 22-28.
- Concern rose fastest among adults under 30: 55% now say they are more concerned than excited, up from 39% two years ago, the steepest increase of any age group.
- 71% of adults believe AI will lead to fewer job opportunities over the next 20 years, up from 64% in 2024, with the belief also rising fastest among adults under 30.
- Only 9% of respondents say they are more excited than concerned about AI's expanding presence in daily life.
A Pew Research Center survey published August 18 found that 52% of US adults say they are more concerned than excited about AI's growing role in daily life, up from 37% in 2021. Another 37% say they are equally concerned and excited, and just 9% say they are more excited than concerned. The survey polled 3,488 US adults between June 22 and June 28.
The sharpest shift is among adults under 30, historically the age group most receptive to new technology: 55% now say they are more concerned than excited about AI, up from 39% just two years earlier, a steeper rise than any other age group. Adults 65 and older remain the most concerned overall, at 59%.
On jobs specifically, 71% of all adults believe AI will lead to fewer job opportunities over the next two decades, up from 64% in 2024. That belief also rose fastest among the youngest respondents: 73% of adults under 30 now expect AI to shrink job opportunities, up from 61% two years ago.
For a company building consumer AI products, this is a demographic warning sign, not an abstract sentiment number: the cohort AI companies have generally treated as their default early adopters is now the fastest-growing source of skepticism, and the driver is a concrete, falsifiable belief about jobs rather than diffuse unease. A product or hiring pitch aimed at 18-to-29-year-olds now has to answer the jobs question directly, because the audience has already made up its mind that the answer is fewer jobs, not more.