British employees are deliberately sabotaging workplace robots over fears the machines will take their jobs, new study claims
·
British
employees are deliberately sabotaging workplace robots over fears the machines
will take their jobs, new study claims
- Manual workers have found their own way of stopping
the robot's rise, sabotage
- Study by De Montfort University compared UK's use of
robots to Norway
- It found that UK workers are particularly
adverse to the introduction of the intelligent machines into the work
place
UK workers are
sabotaging and assaulting workplace robots in an attempt to stop them taking
their jobs, finds study.
It's a common science fiction depiction of the future, artificial
intelligence overthrows the human race.
But for some manual workers they have found their own ways of stopping
the robots' rise to world domination - by confusing them.
The study by
De Montfort University in Leicester which looked into the use of robotics in
healthcare concluded that UK workers are particularly apposed to the
introduction of the intelligent machines into the work place.
Compared to Norway where the study found co-working robots are often
given affectionate names and welcomed.
Jonathan Payne, Professor of Work, Employment and Skills, said: 'We
heard stories of workers standing in the way of robots, and minor acts of
sabotage - and not playing along with them.'
Adding: 'The UK seems to have a problem with diffusion and take-up of
technology.'
The use of
machines in the place of people has slowly crept in, more so over the last five
years, this can be seen in most supermarkets as cashiers are replaced with
self-checkouts.
Professor Payne, who led the study, said that British businesses are
less likely to get on a level with their employees and explain to them why they
want to use the machines.
In turn this can lead to a higher level of resentment for the
robots.
Incidents of 'robot abuse' are currently more publicised in the U.S.
where a patrolling security robot was found drowned in a Washington D.C. office
block fountain under mysterious circumstances, Knightscope, the company
behind the robot claim that it slipped.
Starship Technologies, a San Francisco company who launched delivery
robots in the UK, have faced attempted thefts from the robots as they go about
their duty.
While one Scottish supermarket,Margiotta, had to fire
it's store robot after it 'alarmed' shoppers as it handed out pulled pork
samples, reports The Telegraph.
Greg Williams of Active8 Robots, a
consultancy that helps businesses integrate cobots (robots that work with
humans), told People management: 'Businesses are
definitely being affected by Brexit.
'People are starting to realise that they're not going to be able to get
the same sort of low-paid staff to do mundane jobs. It's leading some quite
large organisations to ask if we can help.'
The publication also spoke to one British company that employs robots
and requires humans to carry fellow robot colleagues out of the building on
their shoulder when the fire alarm sounds.
UK areas most 'vulnerable' to the rise of robots were analysed
by Oxford Economics, who found that East Yorkshire, Northern
Lincolnshire, Shropshire, Stafordshire, Cumbria, West Wales and the Valleys are
most likely to see the rise of the machines.
The report stated: 'These regions are relatively dependent on
manufacturing for employment, and have a relatively high incidence of
low-skilled workers.'
Worldwide 1.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost to robots who
can do the same job quicker or for more cost effectively, around 400,000 of
those in Europe, a report by Oxford Economics states.
The report also predicted 20 million people will have been replaced by
the machines in the work place by 2030.
Despite these figures researchers at De Montfort University in Leicester
found that British businesses were struggling to find robot alternatives 'cost
effective' due to the cost incurred when implementing them smoothly to the
business and co-workers.
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