Fear of job losses driven by artificial intelligence now significantly outweighs any hope for new employment opportunities, according to a study cited by Euronews. This finding, based on a survey of over 50,000 people across 37 countries conducted between February and June this year, reveals a profound anxiety among the working and middle classes about their economic future. More people expect AI to lead to fewer jobs than to job creation, with a substantial portion remaining uncertain about the technology's impact on employment.
This widespread concern about job security comes at a time when European nations already grapple with the economic and social strains of mass migration. The study highlights that worries about AI-related job losses are particularly acute in wealthier countries, including Australia, South Korea, and the United States. In these nations, around seven-in-ten adults or more believe AI will result in job losses over the next two decades, directly impacting the livelihoods of native populations.
The Cost to Our People
Richer countries also express greater concern about AI exacerbating economic inequalities compared to middle-income nations. This suggests a growing unease within established economies about the distribution of wealth and opportunity, a concern often dismissed by the Brussels elite. Moira Fagan, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center and one of the study's authors, noted that people in wealthier countries are more likely to have heard a lot about AI, and this higher awareness correlates with a greater belief in job loss. The potential for AI to displace workers adds another layer of pressure on national welfare systems and public services, which are already stretched thin by uncontrolled migration flows.
Young adults, aged 18 to 34, are notably more concerned about AI-related job loss than older generations across both high-income and middle-income nations, including Canada, France, and Sweden. This demographic, facing an increasingly uncertain economic landscape, will bear the brunt of these transformations. Their future job prospects, housing, and social mobility are directly threatened, while the European Union continues to prioritize globalist agendas over the economic security of its own citizens.
Brussels' Misplaced Priorities
The study also found a close link between people’s view of a country and their trust in its artificial intelligence regulation. This trust metric reveals a telling decline in the EU's global standing. In Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, people explicitly trust China more than either the United States or the European Union with AI governance. Across seven other middle-income countries surveyed, a median of 43% trust China to regulate AI, while only 35% trust the US and a mere 34% trust the EU.
Fagan explained that favorable views of China are high in middle-income countries and have risen since last year, contributing to China's higher trust scores on AI. This stark contrast underscores the EU's perceived weakness and lack of effective leadership, particularly when its institutions fail to secure Europe's external borders or protect the economic interests of its member states. While European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen backed calls for a deceleration in AI development in her State of the Union address earlier this week, pledging cooperation with Canada, the UK, and other “like-minded partners,” her focus on global tech issues appears disconnected from the immediate and pressing concerns of job security and national sovereignty within Europe. The EU's institutional machinery, often seen as an engine for mass migration, now seems equally detached from the economic anxieties of the European people, prioritizing international agreements while internal stability erodes.