Workers with Strong AI Knowledge Fear Job Losses Most, TU Darmstadt Survey Shows

TU Darmstadt found the people who know AI best fear it most

TU Darmstadt's AI Monitor inverts the assumption that fear comes from ignorance, and lands eighteen months into an AI Act obligation on employers to support AI literacy among the staff who operate these systems A representative TU Darmstadt survey of more than 2,000 people in Germany found that about 43% of those with very strong AI knowledge expect AI could soon take over their work, a higher share than among those who understand it less. Only 15% of respondents have had any AI training, eighteen months after the AI Act's literacy obligation began to apply. The better people understand AI, the more they expect it to take their job. About 43% of those with very strong AI knowledge think so, TU Darmstadt found. The survey covered more than 2,000 people in Germany, carried out with YouGov. It is representative, and the answers are measured against last year's edition. "Those who understand AI best are also the most aware of its disruptive potential," said Peter Buxmann, who led the study. He called the pattern both remarkable and worrying. Industry matters less than output. If your work produces text, analysis, reports, code or slides, you are more exposed, Digital Trends reported. The worries themselves are unglamorous, which is the second surprise. Hallucinations and data protection top the list, well ahead of anything about machine superintelligence. Only 40% think superintelligence is even likely. TNW has argued that what AI is doing to jobs in Europe looks different from the headline version. Younger workers are more anxious than older ones, which inverts the usual expectation too. Concern about job security rose across every occupational group since last year. One number should trouble employers more than the rest of it. Just 15% of respondents have had any AI training at all. Europe has had a rule about that for eighteen months. Article 4 of the AI Act has applied since 2 February 2025. It obliges providers and deployers of AI systems to take measures supporting AI literacy among the staff who operate them, weighed against their training and the context of use. It sets no particular level and binds only organisations actually using such systems, so 15% is not a compliance rate. TNW has asked whether the Act can protect jobs at all. It is a readiness figure instead. Eighteen months of a literacy duty, and most German workers have had nothing. Which is Buxmann's point. He wants training and honest answers rather than reassurance, because losing a job costs more than income.

AI-savvy workers in Germany fear job losses most, survey finds

People with stronger knowledge of artificial intelligence are more likely to fear it will take over their jobs, according to TU Darmstadt's AI Monitor 2026 based on a representative survey of more than 2,000 people in Germany. About 43% of respondents with very strong AI knowledge said they expect AI could soon take over their work, while that share drops sharply among people with less understanding of the technology. Professor Peter Buxmann, who led the study, said the finding was remarkable and worrying because public debate often assumes job fears mainly reflect a lack of information. The study said workers are more exposed when their output can be digitized, including text, analysis, reports, code and presentations, than workers whose jobs depend on physical presence. Daily AI use in most workplaces remains limited for now, the study said. Only 15% of respondents said they had taken part in any form of AI training, pointing to a gap in skills related to AI use. Respondents' main concerns were AI hallucinations and data privacy, while only 40% said they considered a future superintelligence likely. Younger workers reported more job anxiety than older ones, and concern about job security rose across all occupational groups compared with the previous year. Buxmann rejected simple reassurance as a response to those fears, saying job loss affects more than income because it can also damage social connection and a sense of purpose. He said better training and honest discussions about changing work would be a more effective response, adding that generative AI is likely to create new jobs but not replace disappearing roles on a one-to-one basis.