AI Anxiety and Future Employment Anxiety among University Students

Abstract

Background: The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the global labor market, raising questions about job security and the future of professions. Students preparing to enter the labor market might feel even greater anxiety about job replacement and the insecurity of future employment.

Purpose: The objective of the study was to investigate the connection between AI anxiety and future employment anxiety in university students and whether this relationship varied depending on gender and academic major.

Method: The cross-sectional correlational study was used. The study involved 281 university students in Islamabad. The collected data covered a demographic information sheet, the Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale (AIAS), and the Future Employment Anxiety Scale (FEAS). Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, independent-samples t-tests, and regression analysis were used in SPSS.

Findings and Results: The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between AI anxiety and future employment anxiety. Regression analysis found that future employment anxiety was strongly predicted by AI anxiety and explained 22% of the variance. There were little or no gender and disciplinary differences between them, and these were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: It implies that anxiety about artificial intelligence is an essential factor that likely affects university students' fear of future jobs. Possibly through education and career-oriented interventions, AI anxiety can be addressed to reduce work-related stressors on websites and to better equip students to work in an AI-driven workforce.