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AI Anxiety Scale

Wondering how comfortable you really are with modern technological advancements? Take this test to find out if you have 'AI anxiety.'

Mark Travers, Ph.D.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D.

August 8, 2025

Mark Travers, Ph.D., is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, responsible for new client intake and placement. Mark received his B.A. in psychology, magna cum laude, from Cornell University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. His academic research has been published in leading psychology journals and has been featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among other popular publications. He is a regular contributor for Forbes and Psychology Today, where he writes about psycho-educational topics such as happiness, relationships, personality, and life meaning. Click here to schedule an initial consultation with Mark or another member of the Awake Therapy team. Or, you can drop him a note here.

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AI anxiety refers to the fear or apprehension people may feel about artificial intelligence and its potential impact on their daily lives. This can include concerns about job displacement, loss of human control, privacy risks, ethical dilemmas or even complete existential threats.

While a certain level of caution toward emerging technologies is natural, AI anxiety goes beyond being a healthy dose of skepticism. It can cause persistent worry, stress or total avoidance when faced with AI-related topics, tools or developments.

Recognizing AI anxiety is especially important in this day and age. Unaddressed fears can influence both personal well-being and decision-making; people experiencing it may struggle to adapt to novel workplace changes or feel overwhelmed by rapid technological shifts. Left unchecked, it can also contribute to a sense of helplessness or mistrust toward innovation in general.

The AI Anxiety Scale (AIAS) is a research-based tool designed to measure the presence and intensity of AI-related anxiety. By assessing the four core dimensions of AI anxiety — learning, job replacement, sociotechnical blindness and AI configuration — the AIAS can offer you a clear picture of how you feel about AI, and why.

References: Wang, Y. Y., & Wang, Y. S. (2019). Development and validation of an artificial intelligence anxiety scale: an initial application in predicting motivated learning behavior. Interactive Learning Environments, 30(4), 619–634. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2019.1674887.

Step 1: Rate the following statements based on how much you agree with them on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.

1. Learning to understand all of the special functions associated with an AI makes me anxious.

2. Learning to use AI makes me anxious.

3. Learning to use specific functions of an AI makes me anxious.

4. Learning how an AI works makes me anxious.

5. Learning to interact with an AI makes me anxious.

6. Taking a class about the development of AI makes me anxious.

7. Reading an AI manual makes me anxious.

8. Being unable to keep up with the advances associated with AI makes me anxious.

9. I am afraid that AI may make us dependent.

10. I am afraid that AI may make us even lazier.

11. I am afraid that AI may replace humans.

12. I am afraid that widespread use of humanoid robots will take jobs away from people.

13. I am afraid that if I begin to use AI, I will become dependent upon it and lose some of my reasoning skills.

14. I am afraid that AI will replace someone's job.

15. I am afraid that AI may be misused.

16. I am afraid of various problems potentially associated with AI.

17. I am afraid that an AI may get out of control and malfunction.

18. I am afraid that AI may lead to robot autonomy.

19. I find humanoid AI (e.g. humanoid robots) scary.

20. I find humanoid AI (e.g. humanoid robots) intimidating.

21. I don't know why, but humanoid AI (e.g. humanoid robots) scare me.

0 of 0 questions answered

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores with people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.