Do you feel AI anxiety? You are far from alone.
September 16, 2025
By Matthew Pietz
This article was written and edited without the use of AI.
Most people don’t think much about the future of AI. And when they do, most people get a weird feeling in their stomach. So if that’s you, first, thank you for clicking on this article despite your worries. I can’t tell you it will make the feeling go away, but I hope it makes you feel better.
In the months before starting Keranaut, and in the weeks since, I’ve had dozens of conversations with AI professionals, AI academics, family members, friends, former colleagues, and strangers at parties about AI. I’ve also read many dozens of articles and books by leading experts, pundits, politicians, and everyone in between.
In other words, I’ve asked around. And I’m here to tell you: no one feels 100% good about AI.
Polling shows that people’s views are becoming more negative over time, though there are ups and downs.
My own anecdotal finding is that people who say on balance AI will be good also talk about the negative outcomes, now and in the future.
If you’re like me, the first time you used ChatGPT, you felt a strange sensation as it spat out paragraphs of enthusiastic text. Since that time, you might worry about the environmental impact of all the data centers being built; AI’s potential to take jobs; the way people, including children, are turning to it for friendships; AI companies collecting our data without our knowledge; and perhaps even scenarios down the road that approach dystopias.
At Keranaut we believe that significant disruption is coming, and as the job market starts to shift and education, healthcare, and governance are impacted by AI—particularly if AIs with human-level ability arrive in the next 5-10 years, as widely predicted—these feelings of anxiety will increase. We cannot forget to prioritize our mental health and well-being during the coming period.
So what can we do?
Dealing with AI-related anxiety is not necessarily different from other kinds of anxiety, except that much anxiety is not rational: it’s your body and mind overreacting to perceived threats. If AI does start to more visibly disrupt the way we live now, the resulting anxiety will be quite logical.
Our key piece of advice is to engage.
Read interviews and discussions with credible experts. If you turn away from discussions about where AI is headed, you might imagine things are worse than they are.
At the same time, avoid scrolling discussions on threads and social media. No one knows exactly where things are headed, and the people who know the least tend to shout the loudest. It won’t make you feel better.
Think about what you might want to do differently, if change is on its way.
Learn about career paths post-advanced AI, which we’ll be posting about on Keranaut, though there are plenty of other sources online. 80,000 hours is a good one.
Learn a hands-on skill like building things, cooking or crafting, which may be useful in a new economy but will bring mindfulness and calm both now and later, even if never used for work.
Cultivate community. Volunteer, show up for friends and neighbors. Human connection will make you feel good now and will be increasingly important in the next decade.
You should also of course use the tried-and-true methods for coping with anxiety–meditating, exercise, making time for things you enjoy, perhaps talking to a (human!) therapist.
Here is as good a place as any to cultivate community. Tell us in the comments if you feel anxious about where technology is taking the world, and what you do to feel better. If you want to go far, as they say, go together, and we have a long road ahead.
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