Navigating AI anxiety: What leaders need to know
Employees around the world worry that AI could take away their jobs, skills, and sense of connection. How can leaders help their teams face this anxiety?
For decades, science fiction has long imagined unsettling futures involving intelligent machines. Now, with AI embedded in everyday life, those once-speculative fears are becoming real. Tech leader Bill Gates has even predicted that humans may no longer be needed “for most things.”
This growing unease is reflected in recent data. The 2024 Work in America survey by the American Psychological Association found that approximately four out of 10 US workers worry that AI will eventually make some or all of their job duties obsolete in the future. A recent Pew Research Center survey echoed this concern, with 64% of Americans believing that AI will lead to fewer jobs over the next 20 years.
But job loss is only part of the picture. A new KPMG global study showed that professionals are also worried about other consequences of AI such as cybersecurity, loss of human connection, deskilling and dependency; and loss of privacy.
A question of safety and identity
“The basic worry is, are we safe in the face of change?” said Heidi Brooks, Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behavior at the Yale School of Management.
AI’s rapid evolution — accelerated by the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 — has dramatically reshaped the workplace, driving unprecedented levels of task automation. But for many, work is deeply tied to identity, making these changes especially unsettling.
“Growing up, we’re taught that our value is what we contribute to the world,” said Malissa Clark, Associate Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of Georgia. “If AI can do what we can do as humans, then what value do we add? I think that’s an existential question people are grappling with.”
Burnout risks
People also worry that AI-driven efficiency could backfire. As automation frees up people from repetitive tasks, expectations for human productivity could increase, leading to more work, not less.
Overwhelming workloads, the lack of agency, potential isolation and disengagement are known contributing factors to burnout, which already affects half of the global workforce.
“I worry about burnout,” said Clark, who is the author of Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business — and How to Fix It. “With every technological revolution, there is always talk that it would be the solution to our long work hours. It simply never happens. Parkinson’s law says work expands with the time allotted. It’s applicable with AI. I think AI is going to make us busier, partly because it is also in our work ethic to always work hard and be go getters, to show that we’re not slackers.”
As AI pushes workers toward higher-value tasks, Brooks also warned of creeping self-doubt among employees about their preparedness to meet these new demands.
“There’s also the question of, ‘Do I have any choice? Do I know what to do?’” she added. “If AI can do the more automated things, maybe we are now left with the really hard brain work. ‘Am I prepared professionally with my training, with my capacity, to actually take on the more complex, nuanced things?’”
With AI changing so quickly — and much of it outside individuals’ control — Professor Yehuda Baruch from the University of Southampton’s Business School says it’s important to stay adaptable. That means accepting that AI is here to stay and learning as much as possible to stay ahead and adjusting as things evolve.
“If you’re a banker, maybe a certain part of your job will no longer be needed. You need to start to prepare for a shift in your career. But AI does not necessarily mean the end of your career,” he said.
Supporting employees through change
Companies are focusing on reskilling or upskilling employees as a way of turning anxiety into agency, as well as teaching human skills.
But like any major organizational change, training alone isn’t enough. Brooks reminds leaders that people need to see a culture of care as the organization goes through this transformation.
“We might be very sophisticated with the instrumental side of work, such as how we produce knowledge and products. But we are elementary in how we take care of the humans,” she explained. “So, we have to pay more attention and get more sophisticated on the humanistic side of things because work needs to take care of both.”
One powerful way leaders can show care is by being curious about how people are feeling or are affected by AI and expressing that curiosity.
“It’s the asking about their experience that actually has the impact and then listening to what people have to say so that people feel taken in and considered,” Brooks added.
Communication also plays a key role in reducing AI anxiety. Leaders should clearly explain how AI will be used in the organization and what safeguards are in place.
“Whenever there is change, there’s ambiguity, and ambiguity causes stress,” said Baruch. “One of the ways to lower that stress is to reduce the ambiguity.”
Highlighting the benefits of AI for employees can help shift the internal narrative they may hold from fear and resistance to curiosity and openness.
With companies eager to harness AI to boost their bottom line, Clark stressed that equal focus should also be put on building a sustainable workplace in the face of AI.
“We need to recognize and be aware of our tendency to pile more things on as things become quicker and more efficient and realize that it’s actually to the benefit of the company and the employee if you can build more periods of recovery and rest,” she added.
“You want to protect your good workers and keep them. And so, are you doing the things that allow people to have sustainable success?”
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