Life Gets Harder, Many Fear Becoming Unemployed

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Artificial intelligence (AI) is making many people fear unemployment. A recent survey by Reuters/Ipsos shows that more than half of US citizens are worried that AI technology will eliminate their jobs. In the survey conducted over six days, 53 per cent of respondents admitted to being concerned that AI could replace jobs within their households. This worry appeared relatively evenly across various age groups, genders, and education levels. Conversely, 37 per cent of respondents were not worried at all about AI’s impact on employment. Meanwhile, 10 per cent stated they were unsure or chose not to answer. The survey results emerged after several major companies announced layoffs linked to AI development strategies. One of them, software company Intuit, stated last month that it would cut 17 per cent of its global workforce to streamline operations and strengthen its focus on AI investment. Concerns about AI have also surfaced in various circles. Last month, University of Arizona students even jeered former Google CEO Eric Schmidt as he discussed AI’s impact during a graduation ceremony. Beyond the threat to jobs, the use of AI as a tool for political propaganda, entertainment, and even warfare has also drawn warnings from several world leaders, including Pope Leo XIV. Nevertheless, the overall impact of AI on the labour market remains uncertain. So far, the US economy has still recorded solid job growth in recent months. One respondent, Jennifer Schalhoub, a 62-year-old freelance writer from Little Ferry, New Jersey, said she recently lost her job writing letters to government officials supporting specific policies. She suspects AI development played a role in that job loss. ‘AI is taking over because people care less and less about the quality of the work produced,’ Schalhoub said, as quoted by Reuters on Thursday (11/6/2026). AI began garnering widespread attention in the United States in 2022 when AI company OpenAI launched ChatGPT. The product could answer user questions much like a human and presented a new way to search for information on the internet, immediately threatening the dominance of Alphabet’s Google search engine. On the other hand, AI company Anthropic is also continuing to expand its business through various products, including the programming assistant Claude Code. Both Anthropic and OpenAI are also in the spotlight on Wall Street due to their plans to offer shares to the public. The Reuters/Ipsos survey also found that college graduates use AI more intensively than other groups. As many as 50 per cent of college graduates reported regularly using AI, while the figure was only 34 per cent for respondents without a bachelor’s degree. Overall, 40 per cent of Americans said they use AI regularly. Additionally, 73 per cent of Americans expressed concern over the increasing use of AI. This figure is up compared to the Reuters/Ipsos survey in 2023, which recorded a concern level of 68 per cent. Lauren Hayes, a clinical psychologist in Washington state, also admitted to being worried after some of her clients began consulting AI between therapy sessions to help cope with anxiety. ‘I do not believe artificial intelligence is capable of having the complex understanding and sensitivity of a human,’ Hayes said.