62% of Americans Expect AI to Hit Workers, but Only 28% See Risk to Their Own Jobs
Updated
Updated · Forbes · Aug 9
62% of Americans Expect AI to Hit Workers, but Only 28% See Risk to Their Own Jobs
1 articles · Updated · Forbes · Aug 9
Summary
A Scientific Reports study and Pew survey point to “invulnerability bias” — people rate their own jobs as less exposed to AI than work in general, even while acknowledging broad disruption.
Pew found 62% of U.S. adults expect AI to have a major impact on workers overall, versus 28% who expect a major effect on themselves; Forrester saw a similar gap in B2B marketing, 82% versus 15%.
The bias appears strongest in healthcare, law and public administration, while technology, engineering and architecture show the lowest levels — about one-third of workers there displayed it.
People reporting greater AI knowledge showed less of the bias, suggesting direct familiarity with the technology makes workers more willing to test whether AI is already reshaping parts of their own roles.
Because AI often automates tasks gradually rather than replacing whole jobs at once, small workflow changes can accumulate while workers still assume the disruption applies to someone else.