By Sally Weale
Publication Date: 2026-05-18 23:01:00
According to a survey by King’s College London (KCL), one in three university students believe AI will destroy jobs so quickly that it will cause unrest.
The survey found that students are among the heaviest users of AI: 77% use it at least a few times a month – compared to 46% of workers – and 27% use it daily or almost daily.
They are also among the most pessimistic about the economic impact of AI. More than half said they believed job losses would be worse than in a normal recession.
The findings are the first results of a comprehensive new study of attitudes towards AI by the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the KCL Policy Institute.
It compares the results of four groups – 1,000 university students and 1,000 young people aged 16 to 29 in England, Wales and Scotland, and 500 employers and 2,000 members of the public across the UK.
While 22% of the population believe AI will destroy jobs quickly enough to cause unrest, this figure rises to 34% among universities.
