AI Use at Work Grows, While Fear of Job Replacement Falls Among Brazilians, Datafolha Says

As Brazilians became more familiar with artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, fear that machines will replace their jobs declined over one year, according to a Datafolha poll conducted in June 2026. Among respondents who have heard of AI, 48% say they fear replacement, compared with 56% in 2025. Those who have no fear increased from 41% to 49%.

At the same time, the share of people who have already used the technology at work rose from 17% to 24%. The poll interviewed 2,004 people in 139 municipalities, with a margin of error of two percentage points.

For economists interviewed by Folha, the decline in fear has more to do with a reaction against the initial catastrophic predictions than with the real scenario. "People heard that everyone’s jobs would disappear, but there is still work in the market," says Daniel Duque, a researcher at FGV Ibre. A study by the institute shows that nearly 30 million Brazilian workers were in occupations with some degree of exposure to generative AI — 29.6% of the employed population.

Economist Tomás Aguirre warns that Brazil’s situation is more serious: the country has a high rate of workers exposed to replacement and lower savings capacity. "The risk I see is in the middle class," he says. For 79% of respondents, using AI in hiring and firing decisions is inappropriate.

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