Americans rank apprenticeships over UBI in AI-labor poll

A poll of 56,000 Americans ranked 79 proposed AI-era labor policies, with apprenticeship expansion topping the list, according to Import AI 472.

The result matters for anyone drafting AI labor policy. Apprenticeship expansion topped the list at +66 net support. Automation severance, which requires companies to pay severance when a job is automated, followed at +63. Sector-based job training was third at +60.

The bottom of the list reversed the pattern. Last was a sovereign wealth fund built from AI profits, at -51. A tie for second-to-last went to a tax on AI-driven profit distribution and universal basic income, both at -33.

The Center for Shared AI Prosperity ran the poll. The pattern is clear. Every top-ranked policy keeps someone working, pairing training or a payout with a specific job loss. Every bottom-ranked policy redistributes AI's gains without touching anyone's job status.

The AI policy debate online spends most of its energy on the three ideas this poll ranked dead last. UBI, a sovereign wealth fund, and a profit tax show up constantly in think pieces and panels. Apprenticeships and severance rules, the policies that scored best with actual voters, don't get nearly as much airtime. If a legislature moves on AI and jobs, this poll suggests the popular version means more training, mandatory severance, not a check in the mail.