Workers across wealthy nations increasingly fear artificial intelligence will destroy more jobs than it creates, according to a major international study that surveyed over 50,000 people from 37 countries between February and June 2026. The findings reveal a stark divide: people in high-income countries are far more worried about AI-driven unemployment than those in middle-income nations, and young adults are more anxious than older generations.
In Australia, South Korea and the US, around seven-in-ten adults or more believe AI will result in job loss over the next 20 years. The report, cited by Euronews, says more people now expect artificial intelligence to lead to fewer jobs than to job creation, with a significant share also uncertain about how AI will affect employment opportunities.
The Wealth Divide
Richer countries aren't just more worried about job losses. They're also more concerned about AI increasing economic inequalities than middle-income ones, the survey found. Moira Fagan, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center and one of the authors of the study, said these patterns appear linked to familiarity with the technology. "People in wealthier countries are more likely to say they have heard or read a lot about AI. And we also found that people with higher AI awareness are more likely to believe it will lead to job loss," she told Euronews Next.
Young adults aged 18 to 34 are more concerned about AI-related job loss than older generations in both high-income and middle-income nations, including Canada, France, Singapore, Sweden, Indonesia, India and Malaysia. This generational gap suggests those entering the workforce face the sharpest anxieties about their economic futures in an AI-driven economy.
Trust in AI Governance
The study also found that people's view of a country and their trust in its artificial intelligence regulation tend to be closely linked, according to Fagan. In Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, people trust China more than the United States or the European Union with AI governance. Across the other seven middle-income countries where the question was asked, a median of 43% trust China to regulate AI, 35% trust the US and 34% trust the EU.
Fagan added: "Favourable views of China tend to be quite high in middle-income countries – and opinion has risen in many places since last year, likely contributing to some of the high marks we see for trust in China on this particular dimension."
Opinion divides are less pronounced when it comes to the rise of AI in daily life. Across the 37 countries, a median of 37% are more concerned than excited, while a median of 41% are equally concerned and excited, the survey found.
The Regulatory Response
The publication comes at a crucial moment for AI. Leaders of major AI companies, including Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Dario Amodei, are increasingly concerned about the risks their AI creations pose to humanity and are calling for a slowdown in the pace of AI development. Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, also backed the deceleration effort in her State of the Union address to the European Parliament earlier this week and pledged closer safety cooperation with Canada, the UK and other like-minded partners.
Why This Matters:
This survey captures a moment when workers' fears about automation are colliding with the reality that AI regulation remains fragmented and inadequate. The fact that young people are most anxious reveals a generation entering the labour market with profound uncertainty about their economic security. For the centre-left, this isn't just a technology story—it's a question of whether democratic societies can shape AI development to serve workers, or whether market forces will dictate the terms. Von der Leyen's pledge to slow AI development and strengthen international cooperation is welcome, but the EU must go further: binding rules on algorithmic transparency, worker consultation rights when AI is deployed, and massive public investment in retraining programmes. Without a just transition, AI risks deepening the inequalities that have already eroded trust in democratic institutions across Europe.