You worry about AI taking your job because you know too much about AI, research finds

If you have been paying close attention to artificial intelligence, you may have noticed your worries about job security growing instead of shrinking. According to the AI Monitor 2026 from TU Darmstadt, the more you understand AI, the more you worry it’ll take your job, not less. Based on a representative survey of over 2,000 people in Germany, the study breaks the long-held belief that fear comes from ignorance.

The more you know, the more you worry

Almost half of people with very strong AI knowledge, around 43%, expect AI could soon take over their work. That number drops sharply among people who understand AI less. Professor Peter Buxmann, who led the study, called this both remarkable and worrying, since most debates assume concerns stem from a lack of information.

His data says otherwise. People who understand AI best also see its disruptive potential most clearly. What matters even more than industry is whether your actual output can be digitized. If your job produces text, analysis, reports, code, or presentations, you’re far more exposed than someone whose work depends on physical presence. However, daily AI use at most workplaces still remains fairly limited for now.

A knowledge gap making things worse

Despite how disruptive AI already feels to many, most people haven’t been trained to handle it. Just 15% of respondents have participated in any kind of AI training so far, revealing a real skills gap in AI usage. The concerns people actually have are also surprisingly grounded.

AI hallucinations and data privacy top the list of worries, while only four in ten respondents consider a future superintelligence even likely. Younger workers reported more job anxiety than older ones, and overall concern about job security climbed across every occupational group compared to last year.

The fix isn’t telling people to calm down

Buxmann pushed back against simple reassurance as a fix. People who lose jobs lose more than income, they lose social connection and a sense of purpose too. Rather than dismissing these concerns, he argues they should be addressed through better training and honest conversations about how work is changing.

While generative AI will create new kinds of jobs, he says, it’s unlikely to replace disappearing roles on a one-to-one basis. So the real takeaway for policymakers and employers is that preparation matters more than reassurance ever will.