Fear of job losses driven by artificial intelligence now surpasses any hope for new opportunities, according to a study cited by Euronews. The report indicates that more people anticipate AI will lead to fewer jobs rather than job creation, with many remaining uncertain about AI's overall impact on employment. This widespread anxiety, particularly acute in wealthier nations, underscores a growing precarity that will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, including Europe's migrant workers.
The study, based on a survey conducted between February and June 2026, polled over 50,000 individuals across 37 countries. It revealed a close link between public perception of a country and trust in its AI regulation, as noted by Moira Fagan, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center and one of the study's authors.
Global Divides in AI Governance
Significant geopolitical divides emerged regarding trust in AI governance. In Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, respondents expressed greater trust in China's ability to regulate AI than in the United States or the European Union. Across seven other middle-income countries surveyed, a median of 43% trusted China, while 35% trusted the US and 34% trusted the EU, Fagan stated. She added that "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."
Worries about job losses due to AI are notably higher in wealthier countries. In Australia, South Korea, and the US, approximately seven-in-ten adults or more believe AI will result in job loss over the next two decades. These richer nations also showed greater concern about AI exacerbating economic inequalities compared to middle-income countries, the report found.
Fagan linked these tendencies to public familiarity with the technology. "People in wealthier countries are more likely to say they have heard or read a lot about AI," she told Euronews Next. "And we also found that people with higher AI awareness are more likely to believe it will lead to job loss."
Youth and the Future of Work
The survey also highlighted generational anxieties, finding that young adults aged 18 to 34 are more concerned about AI-related job loss than older generations. This trend holds true in both high-income and middle-income nations, including Canada, France, Singapore, Sweden, Indonesia, India, and Malaysia. Despite these concerns, opinion divides are less pronounced regarding AI's integration into daily life; a median of 37% across the 37 countries are more concerned than excited, while 41% are equally concerned and excited.
This report emerges at a critical juncture for AI development. Leaders from major AI companies, including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Dario Amodei, have voiced increasing concerns about the risks their creations pose to humanity, advocating for a slowdown in development. Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, echoed this call for deceleration in her State of the Union address earlier this week, pledging closer safety cooperation with Canada, the UK, and other "like-minded partners." This focus on "safety cooperation" by European leaders, while significant, often overlooks the structural inequalities and the precarity faced by migrant workers, who are frequently the first to be displaced by economic shifts and the last to benefit from technological advancements.