Axios-CivicScience AI index shows economic optimism, job skepticism

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AI sentiment: economy vs jobs

Highlights

October's Axios-CivicScience AI Sentiment Index debuted at 41.8, signaling broad negativity towards AI across six tracked areas.
Net sentiment for economic growth stands at +10, but sentiment for AI-driven job creation is markedly negative at -30.4, reflecting a significant expectation gap.
Polling from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26 with over 7,300 respondents confirms persistent employment concerns, with over a quarter of young adults reporting personal or indirect job loss to AI.

October index highlights split on AI benefits

As reported by Axios, the first release of the Axios-CivicScience AI Sentiment Index says Americans expect AI to help grow the economy but do not believe it will generate jobs in the same way. The finding reinforces a recurring criticism of the AI boom, that the technology may boost output and business activity without delivering broad labor market gains.

The new index tracks sentiment across six areas, quality of life, society, jobs, economic growth, support for AI development and support for new data centers. The October reading stands at 41.8 on a 0-100 scale, which indicates broad negativity toward AI overall.

Among the six components, only economic growth posts a positive score. Net sentiment for economic growth, measured as positive responses minus negative responses, is +10, while sentiment on whether AI will create more jobs is -30.4, underscoring a wide gap between collective expectations for the economy and personal expectations for work.

Polling scope and implications for the technology sector

The data is collected through online polling from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26 and includes more than 7,300 respondents aged 18 and older. The monthly index is set to be released on the first Friday of every month starting in December.

The weak jobs outlook aligns with other recent polling cited in the report. An Axios-Generation Lab survey of young adults in August found that more than a quarter say they had lost a job to AI or knew someone who had, adding to evidence that concerns over employment remain a central risk for public acceptance of the technology.

In our earlier article on the KPMG CEO survey about AI agents, we noted that many large U.S. companies are already seeing efficiency and growth improvements, even though only a small share of executives view the technology as truly transformational so far. The survey also found most CEOs expect headcount to rise over the next few years, alongside increased retraining and sustained investment in AI infrastructure—adding an important counterpoint to public worries that AI will mainly replace jobs.

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