A new Reuters/Ipsos survey finds deep unease about the social and economic effects of artificial intelligence. Seventy-one percent of respondents said they are concerned the technology will “put too many people out of work permanently,” underscoring the public’s fear of structural job losses even as the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 4.2%. The online poll questioned 4,446 adults nationwide over six days and concluded on Aug. 18. Beyond employment, Americans expressed anxiety about a broad range of AI-related risks: 77% worry foreign adversaries could deploy the technology to create political chaos, while 61% cite the large amounts of electricity required to run data-hungry systems. Military use of AI divides opinion. Nearly half of those surveyed (48%) say the government should never let algorithms determine targets for a strike, compared with 24% who would allow such use and 28% who are undecided. Two-thirds of respondents also fear people might abandon human relationships in favor of AI companions. Views on education are mixed. Thirty-six percent believe AI will enhance learning, 40% think it will not, and the rest are unsure. The findings come as generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Alphabet’s Gemini spread across workplaces and classrooms, prompting policymakers and businesses to balance innovation with safeguards. The poll has a margin of error of about two percentage points.