Are you more fearful of AI stealing jobs, hurting the economy and disrupting the political process than you are of someone you love dying? A lot of people are, according to Chapman University’s 12th annual survey on American fears for 2026.
This year’s survey by the private research university in California was different. For the first time, researchers began asking Americans about their thoughts and fears about artificial intelligence, and those AI-related fears made the top 10 twice, as well as popping up throughout the list.
These were the top fears in the minds of the American people for 2026.
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| Fear | % of very afraid or afraid | Rank in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Corrupt government officials | 61.1% | 1 |
| US becoming involved in another world war | 58% | 6 |
| AI harming the political process | 51.9% | New entry |
| People I love becoming seriously ill | 51.8% | 2 |
| People I love dying | 50.6% | 5 |
| Economic/financial collapse | 50.6% | 3 |
| AI hurting the economy | 49.7% | New entry |
| Government tracking of personal data | 48.9% | 10 |
| Biological warfare | 48.2% | 12 |
| Terrorist attack | 47.3% | 15 |
The most central fear for Americans has remained unchanged since last year: corrupt government officials, at a staggering 61.1%. Other common and expected fears, like the US becoming involved in another world war, remain on the list, but it now sits in the No. 2 spot instead of 2025’s No. 6 slot.
Possibly the most common fears that any human could have — someone you love becoming seriously ill or dying — also remained prominent in the top 10 list.
The addition of AI makes a lot of sense in the world that we live in today, however. In the top 10 list, AI-related fears surround the technology harming both the election process (ranked third) and the economy (ranked seventh). With midterm elections right around the corner, it’s not at all surprising to see AI pop up here.
The team at Chapman commissioned NORC at the University of Chicago to survey 1,221 adults online this past April.
The study doesn’t paint AI as all bad, though. It also states that there is hope about the technology, according to Seth Benzell, assistant professor of business and economics at Chapman.
“When you frame it as AI or robots that are going to allow you to build something that you weren’t able to do before … those get people a lot more excited,” Benzell said.
AI cropped up a few more times on the list, however, including AI hurting the environment (at 43.2%), AI harming personal relationships (42%), AI replacing people in the workforce (also 42%), reporting to an AI manager at work (19.1%), having your work evaluated by AI (19.3%) and working with AI-enabled technologies (17.2%).
Other fears of technology also made the list: government tracking of personal data (48.9%), cyberterrorism (45.7%), government use of drones within the US (34.2%), technology that I don’t understand (23.5%) and technological change at work (12.6%).
Other, hardly dismissible fears that have been on people’s minds for a long time remain on the list: economic collapse, biological warfare and terrorist attacks are all incredibly valid.