AI Index Report 2026: Employment, Economics, and Public Sentiment
Published on 29.04.2026
Scott Hanselman here, and this week's newsletter is a visual tour of some concerning data points about AI's impact on the economy and society.
The Fed Puts a Number On It
The Federal Reserve just put a number on something developers have been experiencing for two years. A new study by Fed economists Laland D. Crane and Paul E. Soto found that employment growth among U.S. programmers dropped roughly fifty percent after ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Before that, programming-intensive jobs were growing at around five percent annually, well above the overall labor market.
This isn't theoretical anymore. The data exists. And it's not just about programmers.
The National Divide
There's a significant disconnect between Silicon Valley, Washington, and the general population. Half of Americans are more concerned than excited about the use of AI, according to Pew. Gen Z's excitement about the technology sits at twenty-two percent, according to Gallup.
If you follow LinkedIn or Twitter, you'd think it's a lot higher than ten percent who are excited. The American internet is no longer reflecting reality. Gen Z are beginning to leave the legacy apps that started the internet. This is concerning because it could signal the fall of the legacy U.S. advertising-based internet.
A rise in AI anxiety stems from multiple issues, including degraded work opportunities. Eighteen percent of workers now believe it is very or somewhat likely their job will be eliminated by AI within the next five years, up from fifteen percent in mid-2025.
TheAffordability Crisis
There's a point where digital well-being plummets and the affordability crisis starts to impact youth unemployment and the way a culture sees its future. Generative AI that's not creating meaningful jobs, opportunities, and is clearly weakening democracy — this isn't a warped kind of AI populism, this is AI impacting the very human condition it's supposed to be empowering.
The bifurcation of young people, post-graduate entry-level employment, and AI really has me worried. It's not the concerns you find in VC AI reports or academic instructions with affiliations with Big Tech. That's part of the story.
Why Do I Care
This newsletter is a dose of reality amid the AI hype. The data points are legitimate concerns that aren't being covered enough in tech circles. The employment figures from the Federal Reserve are stark, and the public sentiment numbers show a growing disconnect.
The Gen Z angle is particularly important. Young people are supposed to be the most optimistic about technology. When their excitement drops to twenty-two percent, that's a signal. The public has a right to be skeptical when the narrative they hear on LinkedIn doesn't match their lived experience.