Americans see AI growth benefits but doubt job creation

Axios and CivicScience released the first Axios-CivicScience AI Sentiment Index, designed to measure Americans’ views about AI each month.[1] Its six components cover perceived effects on quality of life, society, jobs and economic growth, as well as support for AI development and new data centers.[1] That range gives readers more than a single overall sentiment figure: it separates views about potential benefits and costs from support for expanding AI infrastructure. Use the component scores to identify which questions matter most for your organization, rather than treating the headline score as a verdict on every AI use.

The October index drew on online polling conducted from Oct. 1 through Oct. 26, with more than 7,300 respondents aged 18 and older.[1] Its overall net sentiment score was 41.8 on a 0-to-100 scale, which Axios describes as broad negativity about AI.[1] The index calculates net sentiment by subtracting negative responses from positive responses.[1] For workplace decisions, the score is best read as a snapshot of public sentiment in that polling period, not as a direct measure of AI’s effects on any one employer or workforce.

Economic growth was the only one of the six components with a positive sentiment score; sentiment about AI’s effect on economic growth was +10.[1] By contrast, the score for “create more jobs” was -30.4.[1] Axios says the results show a gap between what people think AI will do collectively and its individual impact.[1] The job-creation score reflects respondents’ opinions, not a tally of jobs already gained or lost.[2] Employers can use that distinction when discussing AI plans: the poll signals perceptions, not a forecast of a particular organization’s hiring outcomes.

More than a quarter of respondents said they had lost a job to AI or knew someone who had.[1] Axios plans to publish the index on the first Friday of each month starting in December.[1] Separate CivicScience polling found that 25% of employed adults were very concerned about AI’s possible effect on their careers, rising to 40% among people in technical roles.[3] Those separate results are not the same as the index’s job-creation score. Teams tracking employee sentiment can compare future index releases with their own workforce feedback, while keeping the measures distinct.