1 in 5 Brits think AI layoffs could trigger civil unrest

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1 in 5 Brits think AI layoffs could trigger civil unrest

UK folk increasingly don't believe AI jobs revolution will end in prosperity for anyone outside the boardroom, say researchers

Carly Page

Carly<br>Page

Published<br>tue 19 May 2026 // 11:59 UTC

Brits increasingly suspect the AI jobs revolution may end with fewer graduate roles, richer shareholders, and possibly riots.<br>New research from King's College London found that more than one in five people in the UK believe AI could eliminate jobs quickly enough to trigger civil unrest, as anxiety over automation, hiring freezes, and white-collar displacement continues to bleed out of Silicon Valley boardrooms and into public opinion.<br>The survey found 69 percent of workers are worried about the economic impact of AI-driven job losses, while 57 percent think the technology will destroy more jobs than it creates. More than half also agreed with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI could wipe out half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.

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University students appeared especially gloomy. Around a third said rapid AI-driven job losses could lead to civil unrest, while 60 percent believe the technology will make the graduate job market significantly tougher by the time they finish university. The study also found that almost nine in ten students who use AI in their studies have already encountered problems with it, including factual errors and completely fabricated sources.

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Unlike much of the AI industry's favorite future-of-work PowerPoint optimism, many employers admitted AI-fueled disruption is already happening. The study found 22 percent of employers have already made roles redundant or reduced hiring because of AI, rising to 29 percent among large organizations.<br>These findings sit in sharp contrast to years of increasingly grand promises from AI vendors about productivity gains and workplace transformation. Earlier this year, analysts predicted AI and automation could erase 10.4 million US jobs by 2030, while another survey found executives increasingly valued human workers less after rolling out AI tools.<br>The public also appears deeply unconvinced that the financial upside from AI will be shared particularly widely. Most respondents across every group surveyed said they expect the economic gains from AI to flow mainly to wealthy investors and large companies rather than workers or wider society.

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Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King's College London, said workers and students were watching AI development "with more fear than excitement."<br>"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," he said.<br>Duffy added that the public remains unconvinced by repeated claims that AI will ultimately create more jobs than it destroys. "Only a quarter agree with the World Economic Forum that AI will create twice as many jobs globally as it will eliminate by 2030," he said.<br>The study also found a growing public appetite for governments to slow things down a bit before the labor market turns into a live-action stress test. Around two-thirds backed tighter AI regulation, even if it slows development, while the majority also supported government-funded retraining schemes and taxes on companies replacing workers with AI.<br>Not everyone is fully aboard the doom train just yet. Employers remained substantially more optimistic than the public, with most saying AI is currently assisting workers rather than replacing them, and almost 70 percent saying they are excited about new job opportunities opening up as a result of AI.

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Whether the AI industry eventually delivers its promised wave of new jobs and prosperity is still an open question. The British public, however, already sounds unconvinced. ®

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