About half of working Americans believe AI will decrease the number of available jobs in their industry | YouGov

A new YouGov poll explores how Americans are feeling about AI and the U.S. job market. Americans are more likely now than they were last year to say the current job market in the U.S. is bad. Nearly half of employed Americans believe AI advances will reduce the number of jobs available in their industry. However, the majority of employed Americans say they are not concerned that AI will eliminate their own job or reduce their hours or wages.

31% of Americans would describe the current job market in the U.S. as very or somewhat good. 41% describe it as bad, including 13% who say it is very bad. This marks a shift from July 2023, when 27% of U.S. adult citizens described the job market as bad.

Among employed Americans, 27% use AI tools at least weekly for their job. 7% use them multiple times per month, 10% use them less frequently than monthly, and 49% never use them. There has been little change since March 2024, when 25% said they used AI tools at least weekly. In July 2023, 20% said they used AI tools at work at least weekly.

Nearly half of employed Americans think advances in AI will decrease the number of jobs available in their industry. This figure has steadily risen, from 29% in March 2023 to 41% in July 2023, 43% in March 2024, and 48% now.

Among employed Americans who think the U.S. job market is bad, the majority (58%) think AI advances will decrease the number of jobs in their industry. Those who think the job market is good are less likely (32%) to hold this view.

About one-third (34%) of employed Americans are very or somewhat concerned about the possibility of AI resulting in them losing their job or having their hours or salary cut — including 10% who say they are very concerned. This number has remained steady: 35% shared this level of concern in March 2024 and 35% felt this way in July 2023. The majority (63%) of employed Americans are either not very concerned (28%) or are not at all concerned (35%) about AI resulting in their losing their job or having cuts to their hours or salary.

Only 2% of Americans say they have personally experienced job loss or a reduction in hours or salary specifically because AI took over some or all of their work. Few say this has happened to anyone they know, including a friend (5%), a family member (4%), a colleague (2%), or an acquaintance (6%). 71% do not know anyone, including themselves, who has lost a job or had their hours or salary reduced because of AI advances.

Most Americans (56%) think the government should regulate the use of AI in the workplace, marking a slight increase from July 2023, when 50% shared this opinion. 18% say the government should not regulate this, and 27% are unsure.

— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article

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See the results for the August 8 – 10, 2024 poll, the March 15 – 18, 2024 poll, the July 20 – 28, 2023 poll, and the March 9 – 16, 2023 poll.

Methodology: The August 8 – 10, 2024 poll was conducted online among 1,098 U.S. adult citizens. The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican).

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