Believing that "AI will take jobs" alone can destabilize democracy ─ The reason why "fear" reduces political participation

Believing that "AI will take jobs" alone can destabilize democracy ─ The reason why "fear" reduces political participation

1. What Will Be Taken Away Before "AI Takes Jobs"

When discussing AI, we tend to focus solely on "employment." Salaries, job transfers, unemployment, retraining. These are, of course, important. However, this study highlights a deeper side effect.

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It points out that the more people believe "AI will take jobs," the more trust in democracy and motivation for political participation diminish. While it's natural for AI implementation to change society, the key is that these changes lower the political temperature not "after they happen" but "when they are perceived to happen."


2. The Study Focused on the Power of "Perception," Not "Actual Harm"

The research team (University of Vienna and LMU Munich) first analyzed large-scale survey data from over 37,000 people across 38 European countries. What emerged was the prevailing view in many countries that "AI takes more jobs than it creates." Moreover, this perception tends to spread more easily in economically developed countries and suggests a certain stability (a tendency not to change easily).


Notably, the researchers state that the "actual" impact of AI on the labor market is limited, at least at present. Nevertheless, the image of "taking" precedes, altering attitudes towards politics. In other words, the issue lies not only in AI's performance or the number of implementations but also in how society discusses and perceives AI.


3. Where Does the Feeling That "Democracy Is Not Functioning Well" Come From?

Survey data indicated that the more AI is perceived as "taking jobs," the more dissatisfaction there is with the functioning of democracy, and there is a tendency for political engagement (discussion, participation, interest in technology policy) to weaken.


Why does job insecurity lead to distrust in democracy? While the study does not primarily aim to elucidate psychological mechanisms, it is easier to imagine when translated into real-world feelings.

  • The Amplification of the Feeling "Effort Is Not Rewarded": The moment one feels jobs are shrinking due to AI, structural factors outweigh individual effort.

  • Resignation That "Politics Can't Keep Up": When it feels like systems and regulations can't keep up with the pace of technology, motivation to participate diminishes.

  • Doubt That "The Distribution of Benefits Is Skewed": When the view that benefits go to companies and costs to individuals strengthens, trust in the system declines.


In short, when the narrative of "AI takes jobs" connects to the narrative that "politics won't protect us" and "our voices aren't heard," the temperature of democracy drops.


4. Is It "Causation" Rather Than Correlation?: Key Points of the UK and US Experiments

Many people are concerned about whether this is merely a "correlation." The researchers were aware of this and conducted representative experiments in the UK and the US. They prepared conditions where participants were presented with future AI scenarios in a "labor-replacing" framework and a "labor-creating" framework and measured subsequent attitudes.


The results showed that participants exposed to the "replacing" framework had more diminished trust in democracy and lower willingness to engage politically in future AI development and policy. This was presented in the form of replication experiments with N=1,202 in the UK and N=1,200 in the US.


What can be inferred from this is that not only job insecurity itself but also "how it is framed" likely influences attitude formation.


5. Reactions on Social Media: Anger, Cynicism, Skepticism, and "Automation Praise"

This topic is prone to ignite on social media. This is because AI and employment are directly linked to life and represent points of value conflict such as "winners/losers," "regulation/freedom," and "ethics/efficiency." Indeed, typical patterns can be seen in reactions to related posts (summarized below).


(1) "Of Course Trust in Democracy Declines" Group
Comments highlighting the sentiment "trust declines when politics doesn't fairly represent us" are prominent. Those who discuss AI as "job destruction" often layer "regulatory delays," "vested interests," and "concentration of wealth" behind it. The research results are received as a "natural consequence."


(2) "Isn't the Causal Relationship a Leap?" Group
On the other hand, there are skeptical voices about the title and conclusion. Some view it as not "AI anxiety causing distrust in democracy," but rather that people with strong pre-existing political distrust are more prone to AI anxiety. Although the experiment approached causality, a certain number on social media maintain a "skeptical" stance.


(3) "Automation Is Prosperity. The Problem Is Distribution" Group
Optimism that "automation lowers costs and actually improves life" clashes with the counterargument "essential goods aren't getting cheaper; corporate profits are being siphoned off" within the same thread. Here, the focus is more on the "design of distribution" rather than the evaluation of AI itself.


(4) "The Problem Is Not AI Itself, But Political Inaction" Group
Opinions such as "It's a fact that democracy is weakening if no one stops the potential destruction of life" are also seen. AI is merely a trigger, and the root issue is skepticism towards political responsiveness.


(5) "Disgust/Refusal" Group (Explosion of Emotions)
In some cases, a strong rejection of AI itself erupts rather than a rebuttal of the research content. Anger such as "I'm fed up" and "In the end, the weaker side suffers" can work more towards "destroying" political discourse rather than merely lowering the "temperature" of political participation.


Social media reactions may seem rough, but they overlap with the study's implications. That is, the topic of "AI taking jobs" ultimately tends to flow into the feeling that "society doesn't protect me."


6. How Can We Maintain the "Temperature of Democracy"?

The study does not place solutions in simple optimism. However, it also points out hopeful aspects. The experiment suggests that people's beliefs are not fixed and can change through communication (how things are conveyed). The impact of AI is not a "predetermined fate," but can be directed by political and social choices—this perspective is important, according to the researchers.


However, this is not something that can be overcome with mere rephrasing or PR. What is needed instead is a "set of words and systems" like the following.

  • Design of Distribution: A mechanism where the fruits of productivity improvement are returned to individuals as wages, working hours, and retraining opportunities.

  • Design of Transition: Design to socially bear the cost of job mobility, such as retraining, job placement, and regional industrial policy.

  • Design of Governance: Transparency in AI use, accountability, audits, rule establishment in the public sector, and circuits for citizen participation.


What people want is not a declaration that "AI is not scary," but the assurance that "when it feels scary, politics can address it." When this assurance cannot be held, political participation appears to be a "thankless role." The study warns precisely of this hollowing out.


7. Conclusion: AI Discussions Become a "Durability Test" for Democracy

AI, as a general-purpose technology, shakes society. Amidst this shake, we are tested not only on the future of work but also on the future of politics.


The narrative that "AI takes jobs," if left unchecked, amplifies distrust and apathy, weakening democracy's ability to choose AI's direction (citizen involvement). Ironically, this means AI's future is increasingly decided "away from citizens' hands."

Therefore, two things are necessary.


One is not to dismiss employment anxiety as "just imagination."
The other is to concretize distribution, transition, and governance in a way that doesn't get swallowed by fear narratives and to rebuild a "choosable future."


AI discussions are not only about employment but also about whether we can maintain the temperature of democracy.


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