A growing majority of young Americans now say artificial intelligence makes them more concerned than excited, with fears about job losses rising sharply just as New York is building new programs around AI training, workforce development and worker protections.
A new Pew Research Center survey found 55% of adults under 30 are now more concerned than excited about AI, the first time a majority of that age group has held that view. Just 11% are more excited than concerned, while roughly a third say they feel both equally.
The change is part of a broader national shift. Overall, 52% of Americans now say they are more concerned than excited about the growing use of AI in daily life, up from 37% in 2021. Only 9% say they are more excited than concerned.
For New York, the findings arrive as state officials are increasingly treating AI not simply as a technology issue but as a labor-market issue.
Gov. Kathy Hochul launched the FutureWorks Commission earlier this year to study how AI and other emerging technologies could affect workers across New York and develop recommendations aimed at protecting economic security while also capturing potential gains from the technology. The state has also promoted AI workforce training and efforts to connect New Yorkers with jobs that require or benefit from AI skills.
Job-loss fears are climbing
The clearest concern in Pew’s latest findings is employment.
Seventy-one percent of U.S. adults now believe AI will result in fewer jobs over the next 20 years, up from 64% in 2024. Just 5% expect AI to create more jobs, while 10% think it won’t make much difference.
The shift is especially pronounced among younger workers.
Among adults ages 18 to 29, 73% now say AI will lead to fewer jobs, up from 61% two years ago. That puts younger adults roughly in line with those ages 30 to 49, 74% of whom expect fewer jobs, and those ages 50 to 64, at 72%.
That skepticism creates a complicated backdrop for New York’s effort to expand its AI economy.
The state Department of Labor currently describes AI as both a source of disruption and a potential source of new employment, arguing that the technology can automate routine tasks while also creating opportunities in areas such as product development, customer support, data analysis and technology implementation.
New York is also investing directly in AI-related economic development. Earlier this year, the state announced that AI company ElevenLabs would expand its New York City operations and create 230 jobs, supported by up to $4.4 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits.
The tension between those two realities — new AI jobs on one side and concern about displacement on the other — is increasingly shaping the debate.
Younger adults are becoming more skeptical, not less
One of Pew’s more notable findings is that younger adults aren’t becoming more comfortable with AI as the technology becomes more common.
In 2021, 31% of adults under 30 said they were more concerned than excited about AI. That rose to 41% in 2023, 47% in 2025 and 55% this year.
At the same time, the share of young adults who are more excited than concerned has fallen from 25% in 2021 to 11% in 2026.
Pew said adults under 30 are also more likely than other age groups to believe AI will be bad for society and for them personally. Previous Pew research has found many younger adults think AI could make human connection and creativity harder to maintain, even though most already use AI chatbots.
That could pose a challenge for states such as New York that are increasingly emphasizing AI literacy and workforce preparation.
The state’s FutureWorks effort is intended in part to address that problem by examining how workers can be trained for AI-enabled jobs while reducing the risk that technological change leaves some workers behind. Hochul’s administration has also proposed programs aimed at giving lower-income New Yorkers AI skills and connecting them with internships and jobs in the technology sector.
New York’s policy challenge is getting clearer
Pew’s survey does not provide New York-specific polling, so it cannot establish how New Yorkers view AI compared with the rest of the country.
But the national results sharpen a question New York policymakers are already confronting: whether AI will primarily augment workers, eliminate positions or create enough new kinds of work to offset displacement.
The answer is unlikely to be uniform across industries.
New York has major concentrations of jobs in finance, health care, education, government, professional services, media and technology — sectors where generative AI is already being tested for tasks ranging from document preparation and customer service to research, coding and analysis.
The state’s current approach suggests officials expect disruption significant enough to require planning rather than simply allowing the labor market to adjust on its own. The FutureWorks Commission was specifically charged with examining AI’s impact on workers and recommending ways to protect economic security while preserving the technology’s potential benefits.
Pew’s latest numbers show why that conversation is becoming more urgent.
Americans aren’t merely uncertain about AI. Increasingly, they expect it to reduce the number of jobs available — and younger adults who will spend the largest share of their careers in an AI-shaped economy are becoming some of the most skeptical.
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