Survey: “Automation will take lots of jobs. But not mine”
Musicians used to say that, too.
A survey released this morning by customer service software company LivePerson shows a high level of cognitive dissonance among workers when it comes to the ongoing loss of workplace positions to robots and software.
The full report, titled “The Robots Are Coming, But Not For Me,” lays out the current industry stats on automation’s growth, and contrasts them with the responses of 2,000 American adults in an online survey.
Machines Can’t Do What I Do
— Even after being told that an Oxford University study pegged 47% of US jobs as “highly likely” to be automated in the medium term, 88% of people are not very worried.
— 74% of people are “not very worried” about losing their own jobs to automation, but 66% say other industries are in danger of being replaced by automation in the next 20 years.
— Around 20% of users refuse to trust automation to replace any existing job.
— The jobs people were most willing to entrust to automation were factory worker (52%) and cashier (55%).
It’s Fake News!
— 50% of consumers reported they did not trust the media to deliver them factually accurate news regardless of industry, income, and education level.
— Of those who reported they did not trust media, 89% showed little to no worry about losing their jobs to automation.
No, It’s the Economy
— Nearly 36% of consumers fear they’ll lose their jobs to a struggling economy rather than to automation (14%) or overseas (10%).
Those Who Have Met the Bots, Fear the Bots
— Exposure to certain kinds of AI is connected to fear of job loss via automation. 66% of Americans have experience with Siri, Alexa, or other automated voice apps, while only 7% have experiences involving self-driving cars. But of those people whose understanding extends beyond basic Siri usage, 35% claim to worry about losing their jobs at least once a month.
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