Nothing to fear but fear itself

Opinion

When we experience fear, there are typically four behavioural responses, all helpfully beginning with ‘F ’. Jan Gooding analyses how frightened humans respond to perceived threats from AI.

At the lowest point of the Great Depression in 1933, Franklin D Roosevelt, in his first inaugural address, famously said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ What he meant by that was that the psychological response we have to any crisis, such as fear and loss of confidence, can actually make things worse.

However rational it may be for people facing uncertainty to save their money rather than spend it, he observed that if such behaviour becomes widespread, it would reinforce the downward spiral of recession. 

Now, in 2026, as every part of the global economy falters amid slow growth, conflict in the Middle East, and persistent inflation, we are once again navigating a difficult period.

Exacerbated by the projected impact of AI on jobs, many people who have until now been very confident in their value and expertise are experiencing unfamiliar doubts about their career futures. What’s more, leaders are being required to both understand and implement strategies for supply chain interruption, price volatility, and technological change on a massive scale, even though it is almost impossible to know where to start. 

Change is everywhere

There is an undeniable paradigm shift in the knowledge economy and all the jobs associated with it. From the legal profession to marketing, AI is far more than a productivity tool. It is reshaping the rules for how expertise and talent are valued, away from the acquisition of knowledge usually associated with academia and towards experienced human judgment that can apply ethics and validate AI outputs. 

We can already observe that university graduates are in the front line of the changing workforce landscape, as AI effortlessly replaces many of the roles typically done by trainees as they learnt their professional craft. So there seems to be a pause on hiring into starter jobs in favour of preserving those where experience and critical thinking skills enable the use of an AI agent, rather than a graduate, as an assistant. 

Aspects of AI are frightening

Whilst we can understand and conceptualise the huge implications of this change in general terms, it can be extremely challenging to navigate the specific pathway we need to take both in our businesses and at an individual level. Not surprisingly, this is causing significant levels of anxiety, with job insecurity and fear inevitably creeping in at every level of organisations. Even at the most senior levels, there can be a sense of genuine bewilderment and vulnerability. 

When we experience fear, there are typically four behavioural responses, all helpfully beginning with ‘F,’ and any of which may prove to be an effective protective mechanism. The two which are probably best known are ‘fight’ (stand firm and confront the threat) or ‘flight’ (running away and avoiding it as best you can). 

However, it is increasingly appreciated that there are two other equally strong reactions that can come into play, namely ‘freezing’ (unable to move and detaching completely from the threat) and ‘folding’ (giving in to the threat and becoming compliant and helpful in an attempt to stay out of danger).

Fear plays out in our responses

We can see all of these play out as frightened humans respond to the threats they perceive coming from AI.

The ‘fight’ response can be observed in anything from vocal opposition and demands for regulation to refusing to use AI tools. This kind of framing of AI in threatening terms is natural but can get in the way of a more strategic approach to adoption.

There is a particular responsibility in leaders to honestly name the dangers and explain how they will be managed, or public criticism and suspicion will get in the way of potential benefits.

The ‘flight’ response is to avoid engaging in conversations about it by delegating responsibility for how best to respond to others, or by refusing to change personal working practices, using the tools and hoping to carry on as you are for as long as possible.

For some people, the act of delegating cognitive work that they are capable of doing themselves is unthinkable. There are obvious risks associated with losing your own creativity and perspective, failing to learn and living in a world of summaries without engaging in original source material. However, arguably a much greater risk is failing to engage and shaping the optimum role of AI in your life or business. 

The ‘freeze’ response is probably the most common in professional workplaces right now.

People intellectually accept that the arrival of AI has massive implications, yet find themselves unable to act. There is a space of paralysis between ‘I should look into this and learn more about it’ and ‘I am overwhelmed and have no idea where to start’.

Typically, these leaders buy a bit more time before making any decisions. A classic delaying tactic is commissioning a report or establishing a number of workshops whilst failing to commit to a course of action.

We can also observe those who are so overwhelmed with fear they just ‘fold’. In other words, they enthusiastically adopt AI tools and become fluent in the language that surrounds whatever the prevailing narrative of their sector is.

This kind of uncritical deference to the inevitability of an AI-dominant world, without a real understanding of the risks or the application of human judgement in the process, has its own dangers. The change associated with AI may be uniquely harder to process, but rushing to overreliance on it as a worker and thinker in our lives is definitely not the answer either. 

Leadership to inspire confidence in the future 

The reason Roosevelt worried about how fear was driving economic behaviour is instructive. Humans are programmed to respond quickly to threats in order to survive. That can mean they react before having all the information they need to make a good decision and can tend to prioritise short-term safety over long-term consequences. 

So, in the face of a depressed economy and uncertain times, it was entirely rational for people to save rather than spend. However, to get the economy moving again over the long term, it was vital that people spend money to stimulate consumption and create jobs. As President, he introduced the ‘New Deal’ to persuade Americans that the crisis was manageable. The Government took decisive action to create jobs by building roads, schools and public buildings as well as providing social security for the elderly and unemployed.

Learning from the ‘New Deal’

The domination of AI as a change agent and the multiple human responses to the many evident threats, as well as the undoubted benefits, is going to require a particular kind of leadership to get people through the change.

Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ is not a bad model to draw on for inspiration. He was able to speak to people with calm authority whilst acknowledging their fears and explaining what was being done. 

But telling the story is not enough; there must be tangible action that backs up the rhetoric. For example, a deliberate and visible governance process that signals how options are assessed, and deployment is managed. Identifying the genuinely useful work that AI enables people to do better and investing in getting people there to take advantage of it. And being explicit about where AI won’t be used because humans must remain in the loop. 

All of us feel a little afraid. This level of change can feel chaotic. So, all the more important that we recognise that and help people face into it so we improve our chances of building a future we all want to live and work in.