The 2026 AI Index Report from Stanford HAI compares how the American public and AI experts view the technology's effect on work. The public opinion chapter shows a wide gap between the two groups.

Among U.S. adults, 64 percent expect AI to lead to fewer jobs over the next 20 years, and only 5 percent expect more jobs. Experts are less pessimistic, with 39 percent expecting fewer jobs and 19 percent expecting more. About 33 percent of experts anticipate no significant change in job counts.

The gap widens on how people do their jobs. Some 73 percent of experts expect a positive impact on how people work, compared with 23 percent of the public, a 50-point difference. On the economy the split is 69 percent of experts against 21 percent of the public. For medical care it is 84 percent against 44 percent, and for K-12 education 61 percent against 24 percent.

Adoption forecasts also differ. Experts expect generative AI to assist 18 percent of U.S. work hours by 2030, while the public estimate is 10 percent.

The report also records worker usage. Globally, 58 percent of employees said they use AI at work on a semiregular or regular basis in 2025. Globally, the share of respondents who say AI products and services offer more benefits than drawbacks rose from 55 percent in 2024 to 59 percent in 2025, while the share saying these products make them nervous rose to 52 percent.

The chart pairs U.S. adults and AI experts side by side on job outcomes, showing the size of the perception gap that the survey data documents.

Source: Stanford HAI - https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/public-opinion