Artificial intelligence anxiety, digital well-being, and future career concerns among engineering and information...

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming educational and employment landscapes, generating increasing psychological concerns among students in technology-intensive fields. This study examines AI-related anxiety, digital well-being, and career uncertainty among engineering and information technology (IT) students, with a focus on their prevalence, interrelationships, and demographic variations.

A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed using a structured survey administered to 820 undergraduate students from four Jordanian universities. Standardized measures were used to assess AI anxiety, digital well-being, and career-related concerns. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and group comparisons based on gender and academic discipline.

The findings indicated elevated levels of AI anxiety (M = 5.26, SD = 0.32), low levels of digital well-being (M = 1.75, SD = 0.20), and moderate levels of career concerns (M = 4.07, SD = 0.34). AI anxiety was strongly negatively correlated with digital well-being (r = -0.849, p < 0.01) and positively correlated with career concerns (r = 0.680, p < 0.01). Female students reported significantly higher AI anxiety and career concerns than male students (p < 0.001). Additionally, IT students exhibited higher levels of AI anxiety and career uncertainty compared to engineering students (p < 0.001).

These findings highlight the psychological impact of AI integration on students, emphasizing the need for targeted AI literacy programs, digital well-being interventions, and career guidance strategies. Addressing gender disparities and discipline-specific differences is essential to enhance students' resilience, adaptability, and readiness for an AI-driven labor market.