Pew finds Democrats now more worried than Republicans about AI and jobs

The shift is recent. It is driven by the ideological edges.

Pew Research Center reported on 16 September that 56% of Democrats say they are more concerned than excited about AI's increased use in daily life, against about half of Republicans, 49%. The two groups include independents who lean toward each party. That is a reversal of the pattern seen in earlier years, when Republicans were the more anxious camp. It reflects movement at both ends of the spectrum rather than a uniform national mood.

Trends inside each camp run in opposite directions. Democratic concern has climbed from 46% in 2023 to 56% now, and is up 25 percentage points since 2021. Republican concern has fallen 10 points over the same three years, to 49%.

A widening gap on the left and the right

Pew attributes most of the change to people at the ends of the ideological spectrum. Among liberal Democrats, the share who are more concerned than excited about AI rose from 45% in 2023 to 63%. Among conservative Republicans it dropped 14 percentage points over the same period. Views among moderate and conservative Democrats, and among moderate and liberal Republicans, have not moved significantly since 2023, the analysis says. That pattern suggests the headline partisan gap is being pulled apart by the most engaged voters on each side. The middle of both coalitions stays roughly where it was three years ago.

The job question shows the same reversal. Democrats are now more likely than Republicans to predict AI will lead to fewer jobs over the next 20 years, 75% against 68%. Two years ago more Republicans than Democrats expected AI-related job losses. Since then the Democratic share has risen 17 percentage points, while Republican views have barely moved. Very few in either party expect AI to create more jobs. Only about a third of U.S. adults say they are equally concerned and excited.

These numbers land in a labor market that is already sending mixed signals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on 7 August that U.S. employers shed 23,000 jobs in July, a figure far below analysts' expectations, with downward revisions to May and June. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, and the labor force participation rate fell to 61.4%, the lowest reading since February 2021. ZipRecruiter labor economist Nicole Bachaud told USA TODAY that with job opportunities scarce, more workers are exiting the labor market entirely.

An election issue with no clear policy answer

Pew notes the findings arrive as AI becomes a midterm election issue, with candidates in both parties debating data centers, regulation and the technology's effect on jobs. The survey of 3,488 U.S. adults ran from 22 to 28 June 2026 and used the Center's American Trends Panel.

What the poll does not show is whether concern tracks personal exposure to automation or something broader. Pew reports the partisan split without attributing it, and the two parties' voters still disagree on what to do about it. Overall concern has been rising for years: about half of U.S. adults now say they are more concerned than excited, up from 37% in 2021.