“Fear of being obsolete”

Over the past few years, Emma Coville, a trauma counselor in Denver, has started noticing a new theme emerging from her patients: artificial intelligence.

“We’ve had clients lose their jobs because of AI, and that’s something we handled in our sessions,” Coville said. They often express “shock, disbelief, and fear that their skills are no longer needed and that they are navigating a changing career landscape,” she said.

Other therapists also said the technology bothers their patients.

“The thing I hear most often is the fear of becoming obsolete,” says Harvey Lieberman, a clinical psychologist in New York. “People begin to question their decisions, their choices, or their future.”

According to a July 2025 survey by the American Psychological Association, more than one-third of workers, or 38%, said they were concerned that AI could make some or all of their jobs obsolete in the future.

Those concerns are not unfounded, said Rhiannon Batchelder, a Denver-based career coach.

“Some employees have been asked to develop proposals for how AI could take over some of their jobs,” Batchelder said. “While CEO pay continues to rise, amid news of mass layoffs being replaced by technology, it feels like another reason to lose hope for the possibility of a stable and fulfilling career.”

AI was the leading driver of nearly 55,000 job cuts in the U.S. in 2025, according to December data from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Overall, about 1.2 million jobs were cut during the year.

Meanwhile, a recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that AI could already replace about 11% of the U.S. labor market.

sales forceCEO Marc Benioff said 4,000 customer support employees were laid off because artificial intelligence is already doing 50% of the company’s work. Other companies that have pointed to AI in recent restructuring moves include technology consulting firm Accenture and Aviation Group. Lufthansa German Airlines.

“People don’t know where they fit into this new society,” said Liana Ellis Anderson, a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor at Columbia University. “We probably don’t know the full extent of how psychologically damaging these kinds of substitutions are.”

Here’s what therapists say about employee anxiety about artificial intelligence and what they can do to feel better.

San Diego-based psychotherapist Ben Yalom says losing jobs to AI could raise a lot of existential questions.

“It may feel as if the universe is saying, ‘We don’t need you anymore,’ which can be much more serious and disturbing than ‘Our company is downsizing’ or ‘You’re not doing a great job,'” Yalom says. “It goes deep into questions of personal values, and it’s all very disturbing.”

At the root of these feelings is usually “a young part of us that fears being left behind and not being ‘good enough,’ and that fear is amplified because technology itself feels so fast and out of our control,” Coville said.

Lieberman said people could suffer even more if it’s unclear whether the layoff was caused by AI.

“They are left in a gray area that increases their anxiety and self-doubt,” Lieberman said.

Workers who know or think they have lost their jobs to AI, or who are grappling with changes brought about by technology, should first “feel the loss,” Coville said.

“Our society is changing rapidly,” Kobill said. “Please grieve and comfort the part of you that is feeling shocked, hopeless, and afraid right now.”

For decades, studying computer science and learning to code has been a “ticket to success” for a “long and prosperous career,” Anderson said. That may no longer be the case.

But moments of disruption and uncertainty can also be opportunities for reflection, Anderson said. As a practice, she recommends pausing the search to identify what will lead to a stable, well-paying career. Instead, ask yourself, “What do you want?” she said.

“Let’s take an inventory,” Anderson said. “This is a time to reevaluate who you are.” Some may decide to go back to school or change careers, she added.

As you ask yourself deeper questions about what you want, try to put some distance between yourself and your work, says Coville.

“We’re all going through big changes,” Coville said. “For example, we all lose our young bodies, but we are not our bodies, just as we do not have the ability to write code or manage others. You are more than a job.”

While the growing role of AI in the workplace may feel overwhelming, “retreating into avoidance or despair tends to narrow options rather than protect them,” Lieberman said.

“Once you learn enough about AI and understand where it actually changes your job and where it doesn’t, you can often regain agency,” he said.

Batchelder said there are many ways to start learning about the technology, including certification programs and free opportunities.

“For most workers, understanding the basics of AI will be an asset, especially as they wait to see how the technology advances,” she said. “In times of uncertainty, information is always powerful.”