Axios and CivicScience's October index of U.S. opinion scored AI's expected growth effect at +10 but its job-creation outlook at −30.4, revealing a gap between views of economic gains and work.
The six measures cover views on AI's possible effects on daily well-being, society, employment and economic growth, plus support for continued AI development and additional data centers. On jobs, the index asks whether respondents think AI will create positions. The score captures opinion, not the number of jobs already gained or lost.
Axios offered one possible explanation for the negative jobs score: some people may fear an AI boom that raises growth without adding employment. The index does not establish that concern as the cause.
Axios also pointed to a separate August survey of young adults, in which more than one-quarter of respondents said AI had led to a job loss for them or someone they knew. That poll was conducted separately from the index.
Axios plans to begin monthly index updates in December, with each release scheduled for the first Friday of the month.
