Discussions about automation often center around how it will displace human workers, but results of a new survey find that most workers think AI and automation technology will be a net positive.
MIT researchers, commissioned by Amazon, surveyed more than 9,000 workers in 11 countries and analyzed the results for a paper titled Automation From the Worker’s Perspective: How Can New Technologies Make Jobs Better?. While there were differences in attitudes across geographies, overall, 60 percent of workers who work with robotics and AI think the technologies will improve their productivity, satisfaction and job safety, without necessarily putting their jobs in jeopardy.
While people who work alongside physical robots in manufacturing were included in the survey, 80 percent of the sample were office workers. U.S. workers have the least trust that AI and automation will be beneficial to their careers.
“The pessimistic attitude toward new technology among Americans is surprising given historically optimistic attitudes toward innovation and technological change among U.S. companies,” the researchers wrote in the paper. “In countries with strong social safety nets such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, the perceived impact of automation on wages and job security was most positive, whereas in the most liberal market economies—Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the perceived impact of automation on job security and pay was neutral or negative.”