How do I deal with all of my AI anxiety?

You’re not alone in your AI anxiety

Whether your company’s pushing AI tools, your friends are obsessed with “asking chat,” or your feed is full of uncanny slop, you might feel like the only one fed up with AI creeping into every corner of your life. But the public opinion on the AI takeover is far from unanimous—and plenty of people have misgivings.

According to Thriveworks’ 2026 Pulse on Mental Health Report, roughly 1 in 4 Americans named AI as a source of anxiety. Similarly, A 2026 study published in JAMA Network Open surveyed over 20,000 U.S. adults and found that greater levels of AI use were associated with increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and irritability. Not to mention, you probably know at least a few people who feel frustrated, worried, or hopeless about the AI-ification of the world.

Some of this is a consequence of an age-old problem: New tech has long disrupted how people work, communicate, and live, and that historically comes with growing pains. “The world is always evolving and that’s a great and a scary thing all at once,” says Hallie Kritsas, a licensed mental health counselor at Thriveworks.

But the rapid and largely unregulated rollout of AI has opened a few worrying cans of worms—or at least exacerbated existing issues of the social media age. Constantly worrying about your privacy or questioning whether an image, text, or piece of information is real can add a layer of hypervigilance to daily life, which might lead to anxious thoughts or physical fight-or-flight symptoms. Watching AI reshape your industry or threaten the work that gives your life meaning can also unsettle your sense or purpose and direction, potentially fueling grief, existential dread, or helplessness. And because AI is increasingly built into tools and systems—often opting you in by default—you might also feel a loss of control, which can strain your mental health, Kritsas adds.

Throw in a long list of real-world horrors associated with AI such as deepfake pornography, data centers with massive carbon and water footprints, wrongful arrests based on faulty facial recognition technology, and voice-cloning scams, and no one would blame you if the mere mention of AI raises your blood pressure.

“It’s positioned as something that’s genuinely supposed to make our lives better, but in reality, so much of it is interfering with things that bring us joy, taking away our options, and just adding stress,” says Maddy Brener, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist at Thriveworks.

How to manage all your anxiety about AI

It might feel like the only way to truly conquer AI anxiety is to hop in a time machine and zip back to a life before ChatGPT and the like. But since you can’t exactly do that, here are some ways to make living in the AI era suck a little less:

1. Brain dump all your AI-related feelings.

Just as AI touches on several facets of life, you’re probably feeling more than just anxious. “AI anxiety is a wide umbrella with lots of different buckets underneath it,” says Jami Dumler, a licensed clinical social worker and director of clinical programs at Thriveworks.

Dumler suggests journaling to drill down into what exactly AI anxiety encompasses for you. “It doesn’t have to be complete sentences. It doesn’t have to make sense. Just get it all out of your head and onto the paper,” she says, adding that writing by hand can often help us process our thoughts and feelings.

Maybe you’re feeling violated because your work was used to train a robot, or you’re feeling concerned that your older parents are increasingly being duped by AI content online. You might feel frustrated or insecure every time you’re pressured to use a tool that goes against your values at work.

Zeroing in on concrete emotions and triggers gives you something to work with—which will come in handy when discovering other ways to cope.

2. Catch and challenge your catastrophic thoughts.

As journaling might’ve shown you, it can be tough not to spin out about the future implications of AI—especially if you’re among the majority of people who distrust the executives of major AI companies to act responsibly. There are plenty of worst-case scenarios to choose from, whether it’s the environmental impact of data centers colliding with your climate anxiety, or if AI’s arrival in schools has you convinced kids will stop learning to read, write, or think for themselves.

But while this line of thinking is relatable and often rooted in legitimate concerns, it’s not useful. “Typically when we’re spinning out with anxious thoughts, our brain is trying to solve a problem,” Dumler says. “But it doesn’t actually solve a problem—it just leads us to sit in that problem longer instead of taking action and finding solutions.”

So what can you do instead? Dumler recommends catching and challenging catastrophic thoughts by looking out for these common pitfalls:

• Absolute language like always and never
• Predictions stated as facts
• Assuming that certain scenarios are the only possible outcome

If you find yourself falling into any of the above traps, try reframing your fear for something less black-and-white, she explains. For example, “I’ll never find a job again” can become “the future of my industry is uncertain,” “my career might not look how I imagined,” or simply “I’m catastrophizing about something I can’t control right now.”

According to Dumler, these small reframes and pauses, combined with naming specific sources of anxiety, can orient you toward potential next steps instead of locking you in a spiral.

3. Make a list of things you can and can’t control.

Once you have a solid understanding of how you’re feeling and why, you can start brainstorming next steps, from how you’ll respond to anxiety in the moment to what problems you can address directly. As you might imagine, what this looks like in practice depends on what’s stressing you out most.

One way to map this out visually is to draw a circle for each thing you’re anxious about. Outside of the circle, you’ll write things that are outside of your control. Within the circle, you’ll write things that are within your control. This can help you see what actionable steps you can really take, says Dumler. Here are some examples:

• You might not be able to avoid AI recipes on Pinterest, but you can go back to physical cookbooks or stick to a list of creators you trust.
• You might not be able to stop businesses from using AI, but you don’t have to follow or patronize the ones that do.
• You might not know every way companies are using your data, but you can turn off model training where possible
• You might not be able to stop the stream of alarming headlines, but you can turn off news notifications and limit scrolling
• Your child’s school might introduce AI tools and chatbots, but you can set limits around AI use at home (and start a physical book club with them to teach them the classics)

None of these steps will necessarily calm your anxieties—or solve AI’s larger problems—overnight. But they can help combat feelings of helplessness. “Whatever you do is better than thinking there’s nothing you can do,” Dr. Brener says.

Remember, big changes always start with small steps. “The more and more people make small micro-level steps, the more we see macro level results,” Kritsas says.

4. Lean into undeniably human experiences (ideally with other people!).

Sometimes the simplest antidote to AI anxiety is enjoying being human. “Literally touch grass, engage in your hobbies, make things with your hands, resist the push for efficiency, do things with other people—all of those wonderful parts of being a person and not a robot,” Kritsas says.

That doesn’t have to mean disengaging completely. But leaning into human-to-human interactions can feel especially healing in the face of tech-based anxieties. “Venting with a friend over coffee is better than stressing and scrolling behind your screen,” Dumler says.

A therapist can also be a solid human to have in your corner. (If you’re concerned about your therapist using AI tools in session, Dumler suggests asking about it directly and opting out if you want.) Therapy can help with immediate symptoms of depression and anxiety that might be disrupting your work, sleep, and daily life, while also giving you a place to talk through some of the bigger questions AI might raise about identity, purpose, relationships, or the future.

“How can you build your support system for these uncertain times?” Kritsas asks. “How can you maintain that human connection?”