Poll finds most Americans worry AI could cost jobs

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a productivity story in American households. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 53% of U.S. adults worry AI could put them or someone in their household out of work, a signal that job insecurity has become central to the public debate around the technology.

The six-day survey, finished Monday, June 9, 2026, reached 4,531 adults nationwide and carried a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Concern cut across age, gender and education groups, but politics stood out: 61% of Democrats said they feared AI could threaten jobs in their household, compared with 47% of Republicans. Another 37% said they did not worry at all, while 10% were unsure or declined to answer.

The poll helps explain why anxiety about AI has spread faster than clear evidence of mass displacement. Americans are seeing the technology move from chatbots and workplace software into boardroom strategy, political messaging, entertainment and even warfare. At the same time, the labor market is absorbing warning signs from companies such as Intuit, which said on May 20, 2026, that it would lay off about 17% of its workforce, or roughly 3,000 employees worldwide, as it streamlined operations and sharpened its focus on AI.

That combination appears to be shaping a broader economic mood. Some 73% of Americans said they were worried about increased use of AI, up from 68% in a similar Reuters/Ipsos survey in 2023. The gap between use and fear is also notable: college graduates were more likely than Americans without degrees to say they use AI regularly, suggesting that adoption and anxiety are advancing together rather than canceling each other out.

For policymakers and employers, the finding is a warning that public concern is becoming more personal. The question is no longer whether AI will raise efficiency in the abstract, but which workers will bear the cost and what support they will get before the next wave of restructuring arrives.