British public deeply fearful of AI – with one-in-five even thinking it will lead to civil unrest

The British public is deeply fearful of AI, with one-in-five even thinking it will lead to civil unrest.

New research by King's College London's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Policy Institute has found that seven-in-ten people are worried about the economic impacts of AI, six-in-ten think it will eliminate more jobs than it creates, and half think its impact will be worse than a normal recession.

Almost half the public – 48% – said they'd rather avoid AI, while 41% are afraid of it. Only 24% think it's positive for humanity, compared with 39% who disagree.

There's a noticeable gender gap here, with women more likely to disagree than agree that AI is positive for humanity, at 44% versus 18%; positive for the UK (34% vs 23%; and that AI will improve their lives (41% vs 22%).

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University students are more optimistic than the wider public, with 47% saying AI is positive for the UK and 43% that it is positive for humanity, compared with just 28% and 24% of the general public, respectively.

Meanwhile, seven-in-ten workers are worried about the economic impact of AI job losses – and the figure's almost as high for employers, at 64%. Most of the public (57%) thinks AI will lead to widespread unemployment.

People are particularly worried about the impacts on entry-level jobs and young people more generally, with nearly six-in-ten agreeing with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's 2025 prediction that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.

"The public, workers, young people, and university students are watching the rapid development of AI with more fear than excitement, with real concern for what it will do to jobs, particularly at entry levels, and, therefore, the prospects for our young people and the economy in general, said Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King's College London.

Just one-in-five members of the public believe the education system is preparing young people well for a world shaped by AI. And public appetite for government intervention is strong, with two-thirds saying AI companies should be closely regulated, even if that slows development.

And, across all groups, more than half supported both government-guaranteed retraining for workers displaced by AI and a tax on companies that replace workers with AI to fund retraining.

"This survey gives a really interesting window into how British students, workers, and employers feel about AI. Some of the main concerns held by the public, such as fewer job openings, a contraction in entry-level roles, and increased pressure on white-collar work, echo what I find in my own research on AI and the UK labour market," said Dr Bouke Klein Teeselink, lecturer in philosophy, politics and economics at KCL.

"But none of these effects is fixed. With the right training, policies, and institutional support, there is a clear path forward to a more hopeful future, with rising productivity, broader opportunity, higher incomes, and faster scientific progress."