With AI serving as a constant source of news, it comes as no surprise that people are struggling with FOBO more than ever before.
What’s that, you ask?
According to this Gallup poll, it’s the “Fear of Becoming Obsolete.”
More specifically, workers fear that technology will make their jobs obsolete. The poll had workers indicate if they were worried or not worried about specific issues, and “fear that technology could threaten their job” saw the most statistically significant increase. Prior to 2017, this trend saw very little movement, but it’s seen more growth in the past two years than it has during the entire time since 2017. The concern can be directly linked to huge developments in AI in the form of chatbots like ChatGPT.
Among other questions, the poll asked workers to indicate if they are worried about their job becoming obsolete in the near future. It found that certain demographics are particularly concerned, including college graduates and those who earn under $100,000 per year. The percentage of college-educated workers who are concerned has jumped from 8% to 20%, which brings them to a near-equal level with those who are not college educated.
The distinct difference to note is that non-college-educated workers have previously been concerned when it comes to machines replacing them. However, they showed no additional concern during this specific poll.
Among college-educated workers, both men and women expressed very similar levels of fear. Workers’ biggest fears when it comes to losing their jobs is the loss of benefits and the reduction of their wages. In the past, robots taking over jobs has looked more like machines standing on assembly lines in warehouses. That said, the increase in the concern levels of college-educated workers is a testament to the advancements in computers’ abilities to mimic human language and creativity.
And while this poll shows that people are concerned, workers haven’t given up just yet: The poll also found that only one in four workers see this as an imminent threat.
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