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Despite its advanced status, research indicates that the United States of America (USA) has the highest levels of anxiety regarding the effects of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly concerning employment.
This finding comes from a study by ZeroBounce, which assessed the countries most apprehensive about AI.
The study examined search volume statistics for terms related to job losses due to AI, in conjunction with positive sentiment percentages about AI across major economies.
The AI Anxiety Score combined search volumes of terms expressing concern about AI taking over human jobs with opposite positive sentiment metrics. Higher scores reflect greater public unease about AI's influence on employment.
Notably, the U.S. held the top position, with Americans showing the highest search volume for AI job loss at 440,000, against a moderate positive AI sentiment of 54.5%. The country’s intensity ranking of three highlights that concerns about AI and employment are a significant national issue, setting it apart from other nations in the research.
Mexico followed in second place with a score of 84.4, indicating a surprising level of anxiety despite a relatively favorable AI sentiment of 75%.
The country recorded 120.6K searches for AI job loss, suggesting substantial workforce apprehensions in a nation with evolving technological capabilities, pointing to economic instability as a key factor in the perception of AI, regardless of the overall optimistic outlook on technology.
The findings also showed that the United Kingdom was the third most anxious about AI, scoring 68.3, marked by one of the lowest positive AI sentiments in the top 10 at just 55%.
The UK saw 120K searches for AI job loss, nearly identical to Mexico, despite having a more developed technology sector. This reflects widespread concerns across various socioeconomic groups in British society.
Canada secured the fourth slot with a score of 53.6, exhibiting moderate anxiety levels through 77K searches for AI job loss, which amounts to about 64% of the volumes recorded in Mexico and the UK. Canadians maintain a more balanced perspective with a 64.3% positive AI sentiment, positioning the country between the extreme anxiety of the U.S. and the more measured concerns present in Europe.
In fifth place is the UAE, scoring 49.4, which presents an intriguing situation with only 13K searches – just 17% of Canada’s volume – yet achieving 92% of Canada’s anxiety score. With a 56% positive AI sentiment, the UAE illustrates how metrics adjusted for population provide insights into anxiety patterns that might be overlooked when focusing solely on raw numbers. Although it ranks 13th in intensity compared to Canada’s 8th place, the UAE’s overall anxiety score is only 4.2 points lower.
ZeroBounce positioned South Korea sixth for AI anxiety with a score of 35.9, balancing enthusiasm for technology with job concerns. The country recorded 23K searches for AI job loss, nearly double that of the UAE, yet scores 13.5 points lower on the anxiety index. With a 58% positive sentiment, South Korea’s metrics reflect a population more accustomed to rapid technological advancements compared to the earlier listed countries.
Germany took seventh place with a score of 30.8, showcasing the highest positive AI sentiment among the top seven at 60.4%, which is 5.9% higher than that of the United States. Even as Europe's largest economy, Germany’s 35,013 searches for AI job loss indicate a more measured concern than the UK, constituting only 29% of the UK’s search volume.
Finally, the Netherlands ranked eighth with a score of 22, exhibiting moderate anxiety with 18K searches for AI job loss, roughly half of Germany’s volume. The Dutch maintain a cautiously optimistic stance with 59% positive AI sentiment, placing them between Germany and South Korea in terms of technological optimism while displaying substantially lower overall anxiety than both.
