Harvard survey shows most young people fear AI will take their jobs, yet they can’t stop using it
Harvard’s latest youth survey revealed that 59 percent of youth in America fear that AI will take away their jobs. Still, 52 percent of participants trusted AI to get their work done.
Artificial intelligence has changed the world as we know it. Today, most industries are using AI in some form or the other, enabling greater efficiency and productivity. However, this may come at a cost – jobs. Experts in the field have already predicted that we may see up to 80 percent unemployment due to AI. And it seems that the concern of youth is increasing.
A recent Harvard Youth Poll revealed that more young people are worried about losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence (AI). However, despite these concerns, it seems they can’t stop using it.
Most youth fear that AI will take away their jobs
The survey included 2,040 participants aged 18 to 29 in the US, finding that 59 percent of participants believe AI poses a threat to their job prospects. This figure was higher than other perceived threats to job opportunities. 48 percent of respondents saw outsourcing as a risk, while 31 percent cited immigration as a concern. 23 percent of the participants said that there is no threat from AI.
This sentiment remained similar across parties – 66 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Republicans believed their careers were at risk because of AI. Perhaps one of the few factors uniting the two parties.
The survey comes at a time when companies around the world are laying off employees for a future with greater AI integration. This year alone, thousands of employees have lost their jobs at tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft.
But young people still want to use AI
The fear of AI in the job market is real. But it seems that young people still can’t give up AI tools. Despite these concerns, 35 percent of respondents said they use large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Cloud on a regular basis, the survey said. While 63 percent of participants claimed that they do not regularly use AI models, 52 percent said that they trusted AI to complete their homework or assignments.
Expectations about the future of work were also grim. 41 percent of participants said they expect AI to make work less meaningful in the future, while only 14 percent believe work will become more meaningful.