AI and the future of work
Think tank: The Policy Institute
Author(s): Professor Bobby Duffy; Professor Elena Simperl; Dr Eliel Cohen
May 19, 2026
This report from UK think tank the Policy Institute outlines the first findings from a major new tracker of attitudes to AI and work.
Seven in 10 of the UK public are worried about the economic impacts of AI, six in 10 think it will eliminate more jobs than it creates, half think its impact will be worse than a normal recession – and one in five think it will create civil unrest.
People are particularly worried about the impacts on entry-level jobs and young people more generally: nearly six in 10 agree with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s 2025 prediction that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.
Research by King’s College London’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Policy Institute finds that while fear of AI’s impact on jobs and society is widespread and cuts across every group, there is somewhat less concern about the impact on people’s own jobs, and some groups are more excited about the positive impacts, particularly employers, men generally and male undergraduate students in particular.
