More than 70% of US fears robots taking over our lives, survey finds
More than 70% of US fears robots taking over our lives,
survey finds
As Silicon Valley heralds progress on self-driving cars
and robot carers, much of the rest of the country is worried about machines
taking control of human tasks
By Olivia Solon in San Francisco Wednesday 4 October 2017
13.15 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 4 October 2017 16.28 EDT
Silicon Valley celebrates artificial intelligence and
robotics as fields that have the power to improve people’s lives, through
inventions like driverless cars and robot care givers for the elderly.
That message isn’t getting through to the rest of the
country, where more than 70% of Americans express wariness or concern about a
world where machines perform many of the tasks done by humans, according to Pew
Research.
The findings have wide-reaching implications for
technology companies working in these fields and indicates the need for greater
public hand-holding.
“Ordinary Americans are very wary and concerned about the
growing trend in automation and place a lot of value in human decision-making,”
said Aaron Smith, the author of the research, which surveyed more than 4,000 US
adults. “They are not incredibly excited about machines taking over those
responsibilities.”
Pew gauged public perception of automation technologies
by presenting respondents with four scenarios, including the development of
completely driverless cars; a future in which machines replace many human jobs;
the possibility of fully autonomous robot care givers; and the possibility that
a computer program could evaluate and select job candidates with no human
oversight.
According to the findings, 72% of Americans are very or
somewhat worried about a future where robots and computers are capable of
performing many human jobs – more than double the 33% of people who were
enthusiastic about the prospect. Seventy-six per cent are concerned that
automation of jobs will exacerbate economic inequality and a similar share
(75%) anticipate that the economy will not create many new, better-paying jobs
for those human workers who lose their jobs to machines.
One of the most visible examples of automation that’s
likely to disrupt daily life is driverless vehicles. There’s a broad agreement
among proponents of the technology that driverless cars will be safer than
those driven by humans, who are often distracted, drunk or falling asleep at
the wheel.
The American public disagrees.
“People are not buying the safety argument about
driverless vehicles,” Smith said. “There’s widespread concern about being on
the roads with them, which conflicts with what is consensus in the technology
world.”
A slim majority of Americans (54%) express more worry
than enthusiasm for the development of driverless vehicles, with 30% expecting
that they would lead to an increase in road fatalities. Fifty-six per cent said
they would not want to ride in one if given the opportunity, citing a lack of
trust in the technology or an unwillingness to cede control to a machine in a
potentially life-or-death situation.
Another unexpected finding was the vehement opposition to
robots making hiring decisions, despite the fact that such technology is
already starting to creep into the hiring process as well as other areas such
as assessing individuals for loans or parole from prison. Proponents say that
using AI can make these decisions less biased, but the public is not convinced.
Seventy-six per cent of respondents said they would not
want to apply for jobs that use such a computer program to make hiring
decisions.
“A computer cannot measure the emotional intelligence or
intangible assets that many humans have,” said one 22-year-old female
respondent. “Not every quality can be quantitatively measured by a computer
when hiring someone; there is much more learned by face-to-face interactions.”
Smith said: “It speaks to the general lack of recognition
of just how widespread algorithmic decision making is in our lives by the
average people in the street.”
The survey also asked people about their attitudes
towards existing workforce technologies such as social media, industrial robots
and technologies that help customers serve themselves without the assistance of
humans. The findings revealed a big split between college educated respondents
(typically white collar workers) and those who didn’t attend college (typically
blue collar workers).
“White collar workers see tech as something positive that
helps them get ahead and has improved their opportunities for career
advancement, giving them agency to do their jobs better, make more money and
get promotions,” said Smith.
“When we asked the same questions of working class folk,
you don’t get the same sense that it’s something that is helpful to them or
improves access to career opportunities.”
These social factors play into people’s attitudes towards
the coming wave of automation technologies.
“Those folks who are optimistic hope it will take over
the dull and boring work we hate and create new categories of work for humans
to do,” said Smith, “but the American public does not buy the notion that it
will be good for everyone.”
Three-quarters of Americans expect that machines doing
human jobs will increase inequality between the rich and the poor.
“They believe that a small number of people do well and
everyone else loses their jobs to the robots,” said Smith.
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