Over half of Americans fear losing both their jobs and their independent thinking to AI, survey finds

A major Anthropic survey of nearly 52,000 Americans shows widespread anxiety about AI-driven job loss and cognitive dependency.

Anthropic has published the results of its first representative survey series, Anthropic Public Record. The online poll, conducted by YouGov between November and December 2025, covers 51,993 Americans aged 16 and older across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. According to Anthropic, it's the first survey aimed at the public rather than just users of its chatbot Claude.

Curing disease tops the wish list, job loss dominates the fears

When asked to name their three biggest hopes for AI, 48 percent of respondents picked curing diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. Helping people with disabilities came in second at 36 percent. Technological progress and making everyday life easier tied at 23 percent each. The least popular hope was AI as therapist and cure for loneliness, a use case that's often discussed as a major opportunity but has already caused real harm.

Health beats convenience: Nearly half of Americans (48%) hope AI will cure serious diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. Economic progress, easier daily life, and automating tedious tasks trail far behind at 23% each. | Image: Anthropic