Blog · Oct 5, 2026 · By Velocity11

Why more people are scared of AI than two years ago

Two years ago, AI was the new toy. Now a lot of people look at it with a knot in the stomach. Is that just noise, or is it real? Here are the numbers.

More worried than excited: now the majority

Pew Research asked US adults in June 2026 how they feel about AI in daily life. 52% said they are more concerned than excited. In 2021 it was 37%. Only 9% said they are more excited than concerned. 37% said both equally. [1]

Young adults flipped

For the first time, a majority of adults under 30 (55%) say they are more concerned than excited. About one in ten are more excited. [1] Another Pew report from September 2026 says the same shift among Americans aged 18 to 34: from 40% in 2024 to 55%. [2]

It is mostly about jobs

71% of US adults think AI will lead to fewer jobs over the next 20 years. That was 64% in 2024. Only 5% expect more jobs. Among adults under 30, 73% expect fewer jobs, up from 61% two years ago. [1]

Important: this is what people expect, not what will happen. Surveys measure feelings. Nobody has a clear view of 2046.

Why would young people feel it most?

We do not know for sure, and the surveys above do not say. One thing we can say from other research: Anthropic's survey of 81,000 AI users found early-career people were more worried about job displacement than senior people. [3] That fits the picture, but it is a different group (AI users, not all young adults).

What helps with the worry

  1. Learn one AI tool well enough to know where it fails. Fear shrinks when you have seen the mistakes.
  2. Build things that do not depend on one employer: a small skill you can sell, a simple product, a list of people who trust you.
  3. Talk about it. Many people feel this and say nothing.

Do you feel more worried or more excited than two years ago? Tell us on Instagram @velocity11ai.

Sources

[1] Pew Research Center, "Young adults in the U.S. are increasingly wary of AI, concerned it will take jobs", Aug 18, 2026. pewresearch.org

[2] Pew Research Center, "Globally, More People Expect AI to Cause Job Loss Than Growth", Sep 17, 2026. pewresearch.org

[3] Anthropic, "What 81,000 people told us about AI economics", Apr 22, 2026. anthropic.com

This post was written with AI help and reviewed by a person.