Data Drop: Your Workforce is More Concerned Than Excited About AI

Hello H.A.I.R. Community,

As HR and Talent leaders, our days are filled with conversations about AI implementation. We talk about vendors, productivity, strategy and efficiency.

But we are missing a critical part of the conversation: how do our people actually feel about it?

This week, a major new report from Pew Research Center, "How People Around the World View AI," just gave us the data. And it should be a wake-up call for every single one of us.

This isn't just an interesting statistic. It's a critical piece of business intelligence that highlights a profound 'concern gap' running through our workforces.

The Headline: Concern Outweighs Excitement

The report, which surveyed 25 countries, has a clear and unambiguous headline: on balance, people are more concerned than excited about the growing use of AI in daily life.

Globally, a median of 34% of adults say they are "more concerned than excited" about the increased use of AI. Only 16% say they are "more excited than concerned".

That leaves a significant 42% of people sitting on the fence, feeling "equally concerned and excited".

In the UK, the picture is very similar. 39% of adults are more concerned, while only 13% are more excited. That large middle group of 46% who are "equally concerned and excited" is your biggest challenge and your greatest opportunity.

Why This Isn't a Statistic. It's a Business Risk.

This 'concern gap' is not a soft metric. It is a direct risk to AI adoption, productivity and employee engagement. A workforce that is anxious is a workforce that will resist change.

But for HR leaders, the data gets more granular and more critical. The report highlights three deep divides that are likely present in your organisation right now.

1. The Generational Divide The data shows that older adults are significantly more likely to be concerned about AI than their younger colleagues. In 18 of the 25 countries surveyed, adults aged 50 and older are more concerned than excited relative to younger adults.

For example, in Greece, 59% of those 50-plus are more concerned, compared to just 18% of adults under 35.

• The HR Takeaway: A one-size-fits-all communication plan for your AI rollout will fail. Your veteran employees, who hold immense business knowledge, require a different conversation, one that addresses their specific anxieties and demonstrates the value to them.

2. The Gender Divide In many countries, women are more likely than men to be mainly concerned about the increasing use of AI.

Here in the UK, the gap is notable: 47% of women say they are more concerned than excited, compared with just 32% of men.

• The HR Takeaway: This is an immediate D&I red flag. We must ask why. Is the technology perceived as inheriting bias? Is the way we are communicating about AI alienating a key part of our workforce? We must actively work to ensure our AI strategy is inclusive and that it addresses these concerns head-on.

3. The Literacy Divide Unsurprisingly, the report finds that concern is higher among people with less education and those who use the internet less frequently. This points directly to an AI literacy gap. People fear what they do not understand.

Awareness itself is also split. In almost every country, men , younger adults and those with more education are more likely to have heard "a lot" about AI.

• The HR Takeaway: You cannot assume a baseline level of understanding. Your workforce has pockets of deep AI awareness and pockets of complete confusion. Training must be segmented to meet people where they are.

How to Fix It: Governance as a Human-Centric Tool

You cannot market your way out of this anxiety. You cannot fix this with a launch-day pizza party.

You fix it with trust.

And how do you build trust? You demonstrate control. You build guardrails. This is where AI Governance becomes your single most powerful change management tool.

The public is actively looking for regulation. The Pew report found that a global median of 55% trust their own country to regulate AI and 53% trust the EU. Far fewer trust the US (37%) or China (27%).

The message is clear: people want oversight. They want to know someone is in control.

As an HR leader, you must create that oversight inside your organisation.

Here is your pragmatic, defensible plan:

1. Build Your Playbook Now: Do not wait for the EU AI Act to force your hand. Create your own Responsible AI policy. Define what is acceptable use and what is not. Be transparent.

2. Communicate the Guardrails: This is how you win over that 46% "on the fence" group. Your employees need to know you are protecting them. Tell them how you are auditing new AI vendors for bias. Explain your data privacy rules. Show them the guardrails you have built. This demonstrates safety and builds trust.

3. Segment Your Readiness Strategy: The data proves that a generic "Intro to AI" training module is pointless. Your strategy must be more intelligent. You need to understand the different levels of literacy and concern across your demographics—which is why assessing your workforce before you train is so vital.

This Pew report isn't bad news. It's a roadmap. It tells us exactly where the human challenges are buried.

Our job is to put the 'human' back into this AI transformation. The hype is about technology; our work is about people.

And now, we have the data to prove it.

Are you an HR or TA leader based in the Nordics? Have we got the webinar for you!

The pressure to adopt AI in HR is immense, but how do you separate real innovation from high-risk hype?

​Many Nordic organisations are buying tools without asking the right questions, mistakenly thinking compliance is solely the vendor's problem. With the EU AI Act on the horizon, this approach is no longer defensible.

​Join Alexandra M. Davis and I for this pragmatic webinar that cuts through the noise to give HR and TA leaders a playbook for safe AI adoption.

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Here's how H.A.I.R. can help you put the AI in HR:

1. H.A.I.R. Newsletter: get authoritative, pragmatic, and highly valuable insights on AI in HR directly to your inbox. Subscribe now.

2. AI Governance QuickScore Assessment: understand your organisation's AI governance maturity in minutes and identify key areas for improvement. Take your QuickScore here.

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4. Measure Your Team's AI Readiness with genAssess: stop guessing and start measuring your team's practical AI application skills. Discover genAssess.

Thank you for being part of H.A.I.R. I hope this deep dive helps you navigate the complexities of AI in HR with greater confidence and control.

Until next time,

Martyn

H.A.I.R. (AI in HR)

Putting the AI in HR. Safely.