KCL study finds a third of students think AI will remove jobs and cause social unrest

A study conducted by King’s College London (KCL) has revealed that a third of university students in Great Britain believe AI will remove jobs and cause social unrest.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 university students across England, Wales and Scotland, found that 34 per cent think AI-driven job losses will be severe enough to cause civil upheaval. That compares to 22 per cent of the general public who hold the same view.

The findings are the first from a new tracker created by the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the KCL Policy Institute. Researchers also surveyed 1,000 young people aged 16 to 29, as well as 500 employers and 2,000 members of the public.

Despite those fears, students are among the heaviest users of the technology. The poll found that 77 per cent use AI at least a few times a month, compared to 46 per cent of workers. More than a quarter (27 per cent) said they use it daily or almost daily.

Male students emerged as the demographic with the most positive outlook, with 52 per cent believing that AI is a positive thing for humanity.

However, female students were the most likely to think the opposite, believing that AI is harming their ability to think for themselves.

The broader public was more sceptical as 48 per cent said they would prefer to avoid AI altogether and 41 per cent said they are scared of it. Only 24 per cent of the public think AI is a positive thing for humanity.

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The survey also flagged quality issues with nine out of 10 students saying they have encountered problems with AI, most commonly factual errors (37 per cent) and fabricated sources (31 per cent) and fewer than half said they usually or always check AI output before using it.

Meanwhile, 78 per cent of students said they would still choose to go to university, though 30 per cent would pick a different subject.

Whilst a further 60 per sent said they believe universities can prepare them for an AI-shaped job market, but only 36 per cent said that such preparation is actually happening.

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 in philosophy, politics and economics at King’s, explained there is still a path forward: “With the right training, policies and institutional support, there is a clear path forward to a more hopeful future, with rising productivity, broader opportunity, higher incomes and faster scientific progress.”

The King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the KCL Policy Institute continue to track attitudes as the technology evolves. As for the truth behind students’ fears, only time will tell what the future has in store.

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