How can people manage anxiety caused by artificial intelligence?

The headlines surrounding Artificial Intelligence's rapid advancement have been tough to digest recently. Talk of human extinction from the very people developing the technology carried an ominous warning.

Earlier this month, AI researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from his job at Anthropic, the maker of the AI app Claude, over concerns AI developers were "gambling with our lives" to develop more advanced AI models. 

"It doesn't look that different from, say, Terminator or from science fiction films. It will be smart enough to kill us," Coxon told CBS News.

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, mirrored the concern. 

"If we build in the right way, I think the probability of something bad happening is very low. If we build in the wrong way, the probability of something bad happening is very high," said Amodei.

If these grim forecasts have been weighing on you, WCCO wanted to know how to manage anxiety caused by AI. 

"It's reasonable to be concerned, but we obviously want to talk about when does it become problematic in your life right now. When is it consuming day-to-day?" said Jenny Matthews. 

Jenny Matthews and her husband, Justin Matthews, are therapists who treat anxiety. Both said the number of clients feeling anxious about AI has increased.

Worry among young adults in particular is growing. In 2022, a survey found 29% of people ages 18 to 29 were more concerned than excited about AI. Now in 2026, that number has jumped to 55%.

"I would say, yeah, AI does bring me a lot of anxiety just because of the concerning amount of reliance we have on it as a society," said Muhammad Memon, a student at Normandale Community College.

Memon said he was surprised by how many of his classmates used AI while he was in high school to complete projects.

"I think a lot of it just has to do with uncertainty in the job market," said Justin Matthews as to why people feel anxiety from AI.

"Attacking privacy. That's my main concern with it," added Milcent Nyabuto, also a student at Normandale Community College.

Those fears, along with predictions AI can end humanity, can lead to something called anticipatory anxiety. That's when you worry about something that has yet to happen.

"You start to lose touch with what's important to you in that moment. You lose touch with your values. You're no longer present with your friends and family because, internally, in your mind, there's all kinds of catastrophic thoughts that are showing up. All these what-if scenarios," said Justin Matthews.

Rather than dwell on the what-ifs, Jenny and Justin Matthews shared the following tips for people hoping to manage anxiety from AI.

"I think number one, be really mindful about how much you're consuming around content around this because it's kind of everywhere right now," said Jenny Matthews. "It's one thing to be informed about what's happening in the world ... but it's another to then having it consume you and letting your choices today dictate what you do."

On top of limiting how much AI content you consume, Justin Matthews said to be in the right mindset when researching it. 

"If it's fear-based, if they have a worry, let's not give in to that fear," he said. "However, if you're interested in researching AI because you generally just want to understand how it works and how it can improve your life, I'd say go for it."

Lastly, they say focus on what you can control in your life. 

"Invest your time and energy into those things until we have more concrete, undeniable information in front of us," said Jenny Matthews.

If the anxiety is causing physical symptoms like trouble breathing or chest tightness, Jenny Matthews suggested a grounding exercise people can try to calm down called 5-4-3-2-1.

"Name five things that you can see around you, four things that you can feel, three things that you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste," she said. 

The technique helps you focus on the present moment versus the thoughts and scenarios causing your anxiety.