Ipsos Global Trends: Britain's tech anxiety reaches record levels as public scepticism grows

• 62% of British adults fear that technical progress is ‘destroying our lives’, a seven-point increase on 2025 and the highest score recorded since Ipsos first asked the question in 1997.  
• Just 35% of Britons believe Artificial Intelligence is having a positive impact on the world, compared with 49% who disagree.  

London, UK. Exclusive preview polling data from the 10th edition of the Ipsos Global Trends survey, set to launch at the end of September 2026, reveals growing anxiety about technology among the British public.  

The findings suggest policymakers in Britain face a mounting challenge to retain the confidence of an increasingly sceptical public as technological caution threatens to act as a cultural brake on adoption.  

Technological fatalism reaches historical highs

Public anxiety surrounding technological advancement has doubled since 2013, representing one of the largest jumps in technical concern of any country in the study.  

• 62% of Britons agree with the statement "I fear that technological progress is destroying our lives". This is an increase of seven points since 2025 and marks Great Britain's highest ever score on this measure since tracking began in 1997.  
• This perception remains widespread across society, with agreement the same across the age distribution. Agreement declines slightly only among those on higher incomes and with higher-level educational qualifications.  

Strong scepticism towards Artificial Intelligence 

Public mistrust is acutely reflected in attitudes towards emerging technology, with Britain ranking among the most pessimistic nations regarding AI's societal contribution.

• Just 35% of British adults think AI is having a positive impact on the world we live in, while nearly half (49%) actively disagree. Agreement has fallen by seven percentage points since 2025, while disagreement has increased by eight.
• Great Britain is the third least positive country of 38 on the impact of AI on society, closely tracking sentiments in France (34%) and the United States (33%).  

Commenting on the findings, Mike Clemence, Ipsos Global Trends Programme Director, said: 

With the public debate over the safety of AI raging, a preview of our latest Ipsos Global Trends data confirms a profound shift in long-term public attitudes towards technology in Britain.

It shows Britons have become more tech-sceptical, with anxiety about technical progress reaching its highest level in nearly three decades of our tracking since 1997 and attitudes hardening significantly since last year.  

An early look at our data shows almost 62% of the public now agree that “technology is destroying our lives.

This anxiety holds across most demographic groups, suggesting that the public aren’t simply questioning the pace of innovation; they are feeling a lack of agency and control, particularly around the roll-out and use of Artificial Intelligence.

The key challenge for policymakers and industry leaders is building public confidence that AI advances will benefit people across society, rather than leaving many behind.

Notes:

• For media queries, please contact the Ipsos in the UK Press Office at [email protected]
• For the full findings, please visit the Ipsos website at ipsosglobaltrends.com.  
• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,001 online British adults aged 16–75 (as part of a global 38-market study of 29,542 adults). Polling was conducted online between 22 May and 5 June 2026.  
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.