One in three university students in Great Britain believe that artificial intelligence will eliminate jobs so rapidly that it will lead to civil unrest, according to a new survey by King's College London (KCL). The poll, conducted by the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the KCL Policy Institute, is part of a major tracker examining attitudes towards AI across different groups.
The survey found that 77% of university students use AI at least a few times a month, compared with 46% of workers, and 27% use it daily or almost daily. Despite their familiarity, students are among the most pessimistic about AI's economic impact: more than half said they expect job losses to be worse than in a normal recession. Among the general public, 22% believe AI will cause job losses fast enough to spark civil unrest, rising to 34% among students.
Male students were more optimistic than the general public, with 52% saying AI is positive for humanity, compared to just 24% of the public. However, female students were more likely to think AI harms their ability to think independently. The poll also highlighted that 90% of students have encountered problems with AI, most commonly factual errors and made-up sources, yet fewer than half always check AI output before using it.
Despite these concerns, 78% of students said they would still choose to attend university, though 30% would pick a different subject. There is a notable gap in preparedness: while 60% believe universities can ready them for an AI-shaped job market, only 36% feel they are actually being prepared.
Bobby Duffy, director of the KCL Policy Institute, said: “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.” Bouke Klein Teeselink, a lecturer at KCL, added that with proper training and policies, there is a path to a more hopeful future with rising productivity and opportunity.
