Only 1 in 5 say education is preparing young people for an AI-driven future

Schools, colleges and universities are increasingly expected to prepare young people for an AI-driven jobs market. However, only one in five believe the education system is currently doing this well, according to a major new study from King’s College London.

This research by the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Policy Institute at King’s College London found that fear of AI’s impact on jobs and society is widespread and cuts across all groups. Seven in 10 of the UK public are worried about the economic impacts of artificial intelligence. Six in 10 think it will eliminate more jobs than it creates, and half think its impact will be worse than a normal recession. One in five even believe it will create civil unrest.

The findings are being launched at the King’s AI Summit: Workforce Futures on 19-20 May. Baroness Martha Lane-Fox and Dame Chi Onwurah MP will speak alongside senior leaders from industry, academia, policy and the media. They will address urgent questions about the impact of AI on the future of work.

The study is the first of a major new tracker on attitudes towards AI and The Future of Work. It surveyed four groups:

• a 2,000 representative sample of the general public
• a 1,000 sample of young people aged 16–29
• 1,000 university students
• 500 employers

Widespread concern about AI and jobs

The research revealed that seven in ten workers (69 per cent) are worried about the economic impact of AI job losses. This concern is just as strong among employers (64 per cent).

Most of the public (57 per cent) think AI will lead to widespread unemployment. Only 17 per cent believe it will create as many or more jobs. This compares with nearly half of employers (48 per cent) who take a more optimistic view.

One in five (22 per cent) believe AI will eliminate jobs fast enough to cause civil unrest. This belief rises to a third among university students (34 per cent).

Most of the public (56 per cent) and employers (59 per cent) agree with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s 2025 prediction, that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.

The public are much less convinced by the World Economic Forum prediction that artificial intelligence will create twice as many jobs as it displaces by 2030. Only 25 per cent agree. However, employers are again more positive (47 per cent).

Mixed attitudes towards AI’s role in society

Half of the public (48 per cent) would rather avoid AI and 41 per cent are afraid of it. Only 24 per cent think it’s positive for humanity.

Despite this, more say they will (43 per cent), rather than won’t (26 per cent) use it in the future. Men (30 per cent), university students (43 per cent) and particularly male university students (52 per cent) say it is a positive for humanity.

The majority of parents of 11-to-29-year-olds have not engaged with their children on AI. However, around three in 10 have discussed career implications and encouraged their children how to use AI tools.

Generally, most employers and workers are not worried about AI replacing their own job (55 per cent. One in five graduate workers (19 per cent), on the other hand, are very worried.

AI already reshaping work and learning

Three-quarters (77 per cent) of university students use AI at least a few times a month, compared with 46 per cent of workers. More than one in four students (27 per cent) use AI daily or almost daily. Students use AI most commonly to help write or edit text, gather and summarise information, and prepare for exams.

Nine in 10 students (89 per cent) who use AI for their studies have encountered problems with it. Most commonly they face actual errors and made-up sources. Fewer than half of students (43 per cent) say they usually or always check and verify AI output before using it.

A fifth of employers (22 per cent) have already made roles redundant or reduced hiring because of artificial intelligence. This rises to 29 per cent among large organisations.

Half of workers who use AI (47 per cent) say it has made no real difference to whether they are better or worse at their job. In contrast, nearly nine in 10 employers (86 per cent) say they have seen at least modest improvements in productivity.

Questions over how well young people are being prepared

People see schools, the government and universities/colleges as most responsible for ensuring young people are prepared for changes to the world of work.

Six in 10 university students (60 per cent) think universities can prepare them for AI. But only 36 per cent say they are being prepared.

Almost half of the public (49 per cent) say young people should prioritise vocational and technical careers over university as better protection from AI – a view shared by two-thirds of employers (67 per cent).

More generally, only one in five (20 per cent) agree the education system is preparing young people for a world shaped by AI.

There is strong public appetite for intervention. Majorities back government-guaranteed retraining (53 per cent), an AI retraining tax on companies (53 per cent), and close regulation of AI firms, even if it slows down development and innovation (66 per cent).

Expert insight

Professor Elena Simperl, director of The King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence, King’s College London, said:

“These findings tell us something important: the British public isn’t asking us to slow down on AI, they’re asking us to do it better. People want these tools, they want more of them, and they’ve used them enough to know where they fall short. Employers see creative thinking as the top benefit AI can offer, ahead of productivity, but the public and the experts both doubt that today’s tools deliver this.

“Moreover, women seem to be more cautious about AI than men. That should make us ask who we are designing for, and who is being left out of the conversation.”

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said:

“The public, workers, young people and university students are watching the rapid development of AI with more fear than excitement, with real concern for what it will do to jobs, particularly at entry levels, and, therefore, the prospects for our young people and the economy in general. 

“The public’s instinct is move more carefully, with the majority favouring regulation and protection of jobs over fast adoption, alongside clear government and employer-backed plans for retraining.”

Dr Bouke Klein Teeselink, lecturer in philosophy, politics, and economics, King’s College London, said:

“This survey gives a really interesting window into how British students, workers, and employers feel about AI. Some of the main concerns held by the public, such as fewer job openings, a contraction in entry-level roles, and increased pressure on white-collar work, echo what I find in my own research on AI and the UK labour market. But none of these effects is fixed. With the right training, policies, and institutional support, there is a clear path forward to a more hopeful future, with rising productivity, broader opportunity, higher incomes, and faster scientific progress.”