The U.S. leads the world in AI (job) anxiety

When OpenAI introduced ChatGPT at the end of 2023, generative AI was initially perceived primarily as a tool for creating Shakespearean-style poems or funny pictures. However, thanks to more serious application scenarios in the business environment, the potential of the technology is becoming increasingly clear—especially when it comes to performing human tasks.

Following announcements by various companies that they are cutting jobs or refraining from hiring new staff as part of a genAI strategy, the mood is beginning to change. The population’s fear that AI will take away their jobs is growing, particularly in countries with high AI usage, a poor economy, and less pronounced employee rights.

As the email verification service Zerobounce calculated in a study, the U.S. is the country with the greatest AI job anxiety worldwide with a score of 100, followed by Mexico (84.4 points), the U.K. (68.3 points), and Canada (53.6 points).

The Americans have the highest search volume with a population-adjusted value of 440,000 search queries on the topic of AI job loss, while their attitude towards AI is moderately positive at 54.5%. The intensity score of 3 for the U.S. shows that the concern of losing jobs to AI is primarily a national issue, which sets the U.S. apart from all other countries surveyed.

In Mexico, on the other hand, Zerobounce found a surprisingly high level of concern despite a relatively positive attitude towards AI (75%). The operators of the study interpret the 120,600 search queries on the topic of job loss due to AI with considerable concerns among employees in a country where the technological infrastructure is only just developing (intensity value 53).

Germany ranks 7th in the country comparison, ahead of its European neighbors the Netherlands, France, and Spain. The survey revealed that the population in Germany has a relatively positive attitude towards AI, with a value of around 60%. However, with an adjusted value of 35,000 queries, the search queries on the topic of job loss due to AI are comparatively high.

For its study, Zerobounce analyzed, among other things, the search volume data for terms related to the loss of jobs due to AI as well as the percentage of positive opinions on AI in the most important economies. The values were then used to calculate the AI fear index.

This article originally appeared on Computerworld Germany.